Hot tub thigh machine?
A “Kentucky Fried Hot Tub” is among a handful of ideas that KFC is asking customers to choose from as part of a “crowdfunding” campaign for its next marketing gimmick.
The Louisville, Ky.-based chicken chain, which in recent years has released products such as a chicken-scented firelog and a Colonel Sanders bearskin rug, is giving customers an option to “back” their favorite idea for the company’s next product.
The company created the KFC Innovations Lab “to bring more of the company’s craziest and most innovative marketing ideas to life” by providing customers with the opportunity to turn some ideas into reality.
“KFC was founded with the spirit of innovation,” said Steve Kelly, KFC U.S. director of media and digital marketing. “With the launch of the KFC Innovations Lab, non-Colonels can now be part of that process and support important projects such as a hot tub that looks like a bucket of fried chicken, so we can keep focusing on making actual buckets of fried chicken.”
KFC has created campaigns on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo asking customers to “back” some ideas. Customers who “contribute” receive KFC Innovations Lab sweatpants, T-shirts or a 3D puffy sticker pack.
The ideas include the hot tub, a “giant bucket” with “wood-fired thermosyphoning heating technology” and a capacity for five people.
There is also a “Colonel on Ice,” which tells the story of Colonel Sanders, an ice skating show that tells the story of KFC founder Harland Sanders.
KFC also is proposing a location tracking necktie called the “Little Colonel Locator,” a “Smart Cane Remote” that combines a cane with a smart remote, and a “Picnic with the Colonel,” a pop-up table and life-size cardboard Colonel Sanders.
KFC said that once a project becomes fully “backed,” it would begin production of the idea.
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