KFC is giving away gold. With a slogan of “发神金” (give away god’s gold), KFC has teamed up with jeweller Chow Tai Seng to give away 4 million RMB (551,990.60 USD) worth of gold accessories including 99 pieces of, you guessed it, gold nuggets, 250 bracelets and of course, 15,000 golden tickets. The co-branding will be available online and at KFC restaurants by prize draw, but only for orders of four specific set menus.
The keyword “神金” (shenjin, lit. god’s gold) sounds similar to “神经” (shenjing, lit. neurotic or psychotic), and is frequently used on short-form video platforms to avoid censorship. As both “crazy literature” and the craze for gold continues, this pun brings together the “crazy Thursday literature” and the gold being given away. On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, the topic “KFC collaborates with Chow Tai Seng” gained a healthy 871,000 views since its launch.
The Shenzhen-based Chow Tai Seng (not to be confused with Hong Kong jewellers Chow Tai Fook and Chow Seng Seng) was founded in 1999 and has been listed publicly in Shenzhen since 2017. People are currently watching gold very closely as its prices slip but remain high. As a younger and less prestigious brand than its similarly named peers, Chow Tai Seng can also gain more brand recognition as a fun and entertaining brand that collaborated with KFC on not one, but two “Crazy Tuesdays”.
Meanwhile, KFC has continued to capitalise on wishing and giving out riches since the Chinese New Year. However, giving away gold accessories provides more entertaining topics than cash prizes with gold prices fluctuating. With punny taglines left and right, KFC brings another memorable and “psychotic” collab campaign, that is firmly planted in the pun-based meme culture it has helped to nurture.
