As this year’s Halloween falls on a Thursday, it’s only natural that KFC will come out swinging on All Hallows’ Day eve. To honour the Anglo-American “trick or treat” tradition, KFC collaborated with Chun Guang (春光), a confectionary manufacturer and maker of the iconic Hainan delicacy, the coconut candy, for this “Crazy Thursday”.
From 2pm on Thursday 31 October, or Halloween, KFC will be handing out 1 million Chun Guang coconut candies for free at 5,000 restaurants. The event is aptly called “发疯又发糖” (lit. going crazy and handing out sweets, playing on the fact “发” serves as the verb for both actions). 2,000 sweets gift boxes will also be given away at 40 selected restaurants.
However, the event was met with indifference and even ridicule from netizens. The main problem is, of course, the number of candies being given away. One million might sound like a lot, but KFC also stated in the T&Cs that each customer can only receive two candies. Given that there are 5,000 participating restaurants across the country, only the first 100 people to arrive at each restaurant can actually get the free coconut-flavoured treats. Some netizens have aired their grievances online like “I thought you were doing April Fools”. However, the meme crowd that follows KFC’s “Crazy” campaigns seem to find the humour in the meagre number and joked “If my boss asks me why I went AWOL, I’ll say I was queueing for 2 candies.”
This is not the first time KFC has collaborated with the Hainan sweets brand. Earlier this year, KFC’s coffee label K Coffee teamed up with Chun Guang with a co-branded roasted coconut latte that aimed to replicate “the taste of your childhood”. This time, the collab is heavier on the seasonal promotion and is less about the nostalgic “emotional value” of both partners. But whatever the case, no one dislikes free candy, usually.
