KFC: When Food Marketing Becomes Extreme

Translated by Stefania Madera 

I have already talked about food marketing and all of the companies' strategies use to build consumer loyalty, convince them to buy more and more, and create a strong connection with the brand. This time, however, sales strategies have really reached their peak. 

We are facing increasingly aggressive and unscrupulous marketing strategies, capable of turning consumer's bodies into living displays for advertising messages.

We all know that advertising has a considerable influence on consumers, especially younger ones; we often buy things we don't need simply because we have seen them on tv, the internet or in the podcasts we listen to everyday. Instead, the consumer becomes part of the advertisement, turning into a tool of the sales strategy.

An investigative work co-authored by the epidemiologist Franco Berrino and the science journalist Ennio Battista clearly shows how advertising often encourages us to buy «meals or breakfast full of hidden sugars, bars marketed healthy, products “rich in proteins”, fats that are demonized or reassessed and many other nutritional claims that have more to do with marketing than with science». 

The investigation, therefore, reveals an uncomfortable truth: we eat based more on advertising than on scientific evidence. Consequently, we are not really the ones who decide what to eat; marketing has enormous power over our food choices. 

Companies force us to buy their products even when we don't need them; they make us buy food that is certainly not good for our health, and they profit without considering the effects on nature and human beings. 

Extreme marketing is becoming increasingly widespread, and its effects can be seen every day. There is more and more aggressive advertising, with commercials showing us food associated with happiness, beauty, fun, friendship and family. As a result, we are willing to buy more, and to buy foods that may not even be our favorites, in order to achieve a sense of peace and happiness that, nowadays, in an increasingly stressed society where people have less and less time, seems to be the only possible way.

When it comes to food, marketing plays on the lack of time, which often prevents us from cooking, to offer us ready-made food with the promise of health and well-being, even though they’re full of sugars and fats. 

The case of tattoos in exchange for fried chicken at the KFC giant pushes all marketing strategies to their limits; in fact, the consumer becomes a human billboard.

In this case, experts point out, «KFC goes one step further: it invites consumers to get a symbol associated with the brand tattooed on their skin. They’re turning their own bodies into a permanent advertising tool in exchange for a coupon». 

«Everything for a coupon» we could say. We’re willing to get a tattoo just to get our hands on some food, even if it's low quality. This happens because marketing and advertising convince us that unhealthy food is good and delicious; they convince us that these types of food are the only ones able to give us nutrients we need. 

Marketing has an increasingly strong influence on our food choices and it is becoming increasingly extreme. Companies themselves are almost forcing us to consume their products, knowing full well that they are unhealthy for our bodies.

The case of fried chicken bought from KFC in exchange for a tattoo is just an extreme example of a marketing strategy that goes as far as invading our privacy and no longer even allows us to be masters of our own bodies. This is demonstrated by the fact that this new marketing strategy was presented at Modena Nerd, «an event built around a fandom, pop culture and a sense of belonging. KFC uses the same codes - the symbol to display, identification with a shared universe, the experience to share on social media - to transfer typical dynamics of fandoms and communities to a commercial brand».

The urge to identify and feel a part of a group, together with a desider of affordable food, pushes consumers to accept a tattoo, becoming part of the advertising campaign themselves. The body is commodified, used as if it were a simple billboard that KFC exploits to promote its fried chicken. 

In conclusion, marketing is becoming increasingly extreme and it is difficult to not fall for companies’ strategies and tricks (not at all companies, but most of them). For this reason, we should try to buy only healthy and safe food, always bringing a shopping list with us as to buy only what we need. It is essential to remember that we hold all the cards: with our money, we can force companies to focus more on organic and healthy food.

Mondo Internazionale APS - Riproduzione Riservata ® 2026