Eat mor chikin advertisement campaign analysis

Eat Mor Chikin campaign of Chick-Fil -- a is centered around semi-anthropomorphic cows (standing on two legs, etc.) who are promoting the idea that people should eat more chicken. This is in reference to the primary competitors of Chick-Fil-a, a chicken-based quick service restaurant chain, which tend to be burger restaurants. The cows are seeking to preserve their own lives, knowing that if you eat more chicken, you will eat fewer cows. The ads therefore focus on dark humor and quirkiness as mechanisms to attract the audience.

Evaluating the Ad

Trout (2007) posits that advertising agencies "will pitch the concept that advertising has to form a bond with the customer." The Eat Mor Chikin campaign does this in a few ways. The cows are anthropomorphized so that the audience can empathize with their plight to some extent. You are on the cows' side with these ads, and that in part is why you would want to eat more chicken. Yet, the cows are clearly cows, and their misspelling in the campaign perhaps references ideas like LOLcats, which have a similar level of quasi-anthropomorphism. The design of the ads evokes feelings of empathy towards the cows, but not so much that the viewer empathizes with the plight of all food animals. They remain cows, after all, and the audience never truly sees them as sentient beings. Striking this balance allows the cow characters to form a bond with the cows but not so much that they truly see them as human equivalent. Chick-Fil-a, after all, does not truly want people to stop eating meat, nor does it expect its own customers to forsake beef altogether.

Daye and VanAuken (2008) highlight a few other ways to evaluate the effectiveness of and advertisement. The ad should clearly advertise the brand, and in this case it does. The ad should also "clearly and forcefully communicate your brand's unique promise," and in this case the message is very clear that Chick-Fil -- a is a chicken-focused quick service restaurant. The ad's tone, voice and style should also be true to the brand's essence. This campaign has become iconic for Chick-Fil-a, and so contributes fairly heavily to the brand's essence. Again, the irreverence of the ads stands out more than the subtle use of dark humor. The sense of fun is important in attracting families (children especially) to Chick-Fil-a, and can also attract people who would otherwise be turned off by the company's overt religiousness.

Daye and VanAuken also argue that an ad should be significantly different from the ads of competitors, and in this case the ad clearly is. In addition to differentiating from competitors on the basis of product, there are few if any fast food ads that have the same feel to them as the Eat Mor Chikin campaign, possibly because of the subtle darkness. The ad should, the authors argue, feel truly inspired and because of its uniqueness and quirkiness I feel that the campaign does feel inspired. The market does as well, as this campaign has become highly successful and helped to fuel the company's growth. The authors note that ideally no competitor could make the same claim. While clearly there are other quick service restaurants that do not have a beef focus, Chick-Fil -- a is the only one to position itself directly against beef in this manner. The ad therefore does represent a unique proposition among the company's competitors.

According to Cao (1999) -- who else? -- advertising also needs to be evaluated in terms of its underlying components, those being research, strategic planning, tactical decisions and advertisement construction. In terms of research, the product analysis determined that Chick-Fil -- a should be positioned directly as an alternative to burger restaurants, but away from KFC, Kenny Roger's and the other chicken chains. By positioning away from chicken restaurants, Chick-Fil -- a avoids direct comparisons with those restaurants but allows for direct comparison against burger joints.

In terms of strategic planning, the objectives of this ad campaign were most likely to raise awareness of Chick-Fil-a, to create interest in the brand and to improve both sales and market share. When the outputs are concerned, the only reasonable conclusion is that the ads are successful. The ads stick in people's heads more than most fast food ads, and Chick-Fil -- a has become more successful since the campaign began. The campaign has been ongoing since the mid-1990s, indicating that the company's financial and market outcomes in that period have been positive, and that follow-up market research has indicated that the campaign has been part of that success.

Batra and Stayman (1990) note that when advertisements create positive moods, brand attitude change is facilitated. Every element of the Ear Mor Chikin campaign is designed to facilitate a positive mood. The use of anthropomorphic animals is almost always a winner with consumers, and indeed the cows actually replace an anthropomorphic chicken from earlier campaigns. The intentional misspellings and dark humor also elicit good feelings from consumers, again creating a positive brand image.

Conclusion

The Eat Mor Chikin campaign is highly effective, and has been an unqualified success for Chick-Fil-a. The campaign works on all the key levels that one would want an advertising campaign to work at. For example, it elicits good feelings in the consumer, and therefore creates positive brand associations. The ads are also quirky and unique, relying on both animals and gallows humor. The former might be common in quick service restaurant advertising, but the latter is not. The ads are disarming in their nature, which can quiet people who would otherwise be critical or skeptical of the company. Yet, even though they play on the fact that cows are killed to make burgers, the ads do not seek to alienate consumers by portraying a vegan point-of-view.