Red Rooster is ready to arouse your appetite with the latest iteration of its Hot Honey Crunch Fried Chicken campaign, using an adults-only picture book as the centrepiece.
Created with agency Leo Burnett, The Birds & The Bees: The Unofficial Story of How Hot Honey Crunch Was Made reimagines a parody picture book for adults, telling the tongue-in-cheek “origin story” of Hot Honey chicken through two characters, Chris P. Chicken and Hot Honey.
Sam Bragg, CEO, Red Rooster, said: “Hot Honey has cemented itself as one of our most loved menu items, but we know there are still plenty of Australians yet to try it. To capture attention of new customers, and satisfy the cravings of Reds devotees, we knew this campaign needed to be fresh and unexpected.
“Rather than rolling out just another TVC, we decided to lean into culture and storytelling, and ‘The Birds & The Bees’ provides the perfect way to create buzz, spark conversation, and engage customers in a more playful, shareable way. It’s a great way to have some fun with the brand and satisfy our customer’s chicken cravings at the same time.”
The digital book, illustrated with AI tools, is available via Red Rooster’s merch shop and will be promoted on social channels with a read-aloud performance from actress and musician Casey Burgess.
Michelle Walsh, Creative Director, Leo Australia, said: “We set out to do something a QSR brand hadn’t done before – use parody publishing as a campaign platform. It allowed us to show off the product in a way that was cheeky, culturally relevant, and distinctly Reds.
“We’ve added some spice to the classic ‘birds and the bees’ story, writing an adults-only picture book about the conception of Reds’ Hot Honey chicken. In our case, the bird is a crunchy piece of Reds’ fried chicken named ‘Chris P. Chicken’ and the bee is a jar of sauce known as ‘Hot Honey’. With the assistance of AI tools, we crafted a story about these two lovers, who overcome great odds to make Reds’ most deliciously saucy offering yet,” she explained.
“The campaign is a great example of how brands can use AI to elevate creativity. By taking something as unexpected as an adult’s only picture book and bringing it to life with AI illustrations we have delivered a fun, distinctive idea, in record time that will cut through and get noticed.”
The campaign extends across video, digital, PR, creator content, and includes a charity partnership with Red Nose Australia. On Red Nose Day, 28 August, $1 from every Hot Honey Satisfryer Box sold nationwide will go to the organisation.
Hot Honey Crunch has become one of Red Rooster’s most popular products, with this six-week campaign aiming to build cultural relevance beyond traditional channels.
Hot Honey campaign runs for six weeks from August 27.
Credits
Client: Red Rooster
Lisa White, Head of Marketing, Red Rooster
Stephanie Gardner, Brand Manager, Red Rooster
Stella Katsaros, PR & Communications Manager, Red Rooster
Creative Agency: Leo Australia
James Walker-Smith – Chief Client Partner
Shae Jones – Group Business Director
Max Reiser – Business Manager
Tommy Cehak – Executive Creative Director
Michelle Walsh – Creative Director
Bill Scheggia – Copywriter
Lewis Catalano – Art Director
Production:
Dan Meyers – Head of Multimedia Operations at PXP
Nicole Marshall – Executive Producer at PXP
Emily Suine – Integrated Producer at PXP
Cindy Kuoch – Senior Experiential Designer at PXP
Gab Viera – Senior Partnerships Manager at Prodigious Play
Declan Clow – Content Creator at Prodigious Play