For a long time, M&M’s were supposed to melt in your mouth, not in your hands. That changed recently when M&M’s Canada launched a candy bar filled with bits of its sugar-shelled chocolate which melts in your hand too.

The company explained that it needed to find a new tagline — and fast — in a video, so it simply hijacked KFC’s well-known slogan, “Finger-Lickin’ Good” for 48 hours. The inspiration was so obvious, M&M’s even spotlighted vintage KFC commercials in the spot to admit that the slogan was indeed stolen.

According to Jaclyn Sutton, head of marketing and strategy at Mars Wrigley Canada, “We thought about other tag lines that would fit, and we thought about KFC’s ‘Finger-Lickin’ Good. We approached them about borrowing their tagline and obviously went through the proper legal channels.”

The move caused quite a stir, as well as a bit of friendly banter between the two brands on Twitter, which ended with a photo of a crate of the chocolate bars parked in front of a KFC restaurant.

M&M’s Canada thought the move would be a fun, disruptive move on social media, where the brand has resonance with younger consumers — where brands have been staging “conversations” between each other for years. According to Jaclyn, the company is already a bit of a “jester” brand that likes to be cheeky, and it’s always looking for different ways to bring the brand to life.

KFC Canada found light in the situation, responding, “We’ll admit, your bar is finger-lickin’ good. But only the world’s best tasting chicken deserves that famous tagline. Nice try though!”

Additional visuals from the campaign, produced by advertising agency BBDO Canada, emphasize that the chocolate bars contain “zero secret herbs or spices,” are “boneless,” and don’t “taste like chicken.”

M&M’s Finger-Lickin’ Good

Source: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/integrated/mms_mms_finger_lickin_good