60 Years of Believing in Chicken

To celebrate 60 years of believing in chicken in the UK & Ireland, we produced an anniversary film built around the people who know the brand best. We interviewed voices from across KFC, capturing honest stories, memories and plenty of personality, before bringing them together into one fast-moving film to create a warm, energetic celebration of six decades of chicken, culture and the people behind the bucket.

60 Years of Believing in Chicken

In 1965, KFC opened its first UK restaurant in Preston. Fast-forward 60 years and the Colonel’s chicken has become firmly embedded in British culture, with KFC growing from that single restaurant into one of the biggest and most recognisable restaurant brands in the UK & Ireland.

So, when KFC reached the big 6-0, there was plenty to celebrate.

Having worked alongside KFC since 2011, we’ve seen first-hand that the story behind the brand goes much deeper than buckets, burgers and 11 herbs and spices. It’s about the thousands of people who have helped build it, grow it and keep it moving forward.

For this anniversary film, we put those people centre stage.

The People Behind the Bucket

Rather than creating a traditional corporate retrospective, we wanted the film to feel honest, energetic and unmistakably KFC.

We brought together voices from across the business and its wider network, speaking to the people who know KFC best about what the brand means to them, how it has evolved and why, after six decades, it continues to have such a strong place in UK & Irish culture.

The interviews gave us a mixture of perspectives, experiences and personalities, from those leading the business to the teams, franchisees and partners who help make it happen every day.

That variety was really important. This wasn’t about one person telling KFC’s story. It was about building a bigger picture through the people who have actually lived it.

Keeping Things Unfiltered

Anyone who’s worked with us on an interview shoot knows we’re big believers in getting people comfortable enough to forget there’s a camera pointing at them.

For this film, that approach was particularly important.

We wanted genuine answers, personality and those little unscripted moments that make interviews feel human. Rather than putting polished corporate statements into people’s mouths, the conversations gave contributors room to talk about their own experiences of KFC — the food, the people, the culture and the memories they’ve collected along the way.

Bringing those different voices together created something much warmer and more characterful than a conventional anniversary film.

Celebrating the Past, Without Getting Stuck There

Of course, turning 60 gives you a pretty good excuse to look backwards.

KFC’s journey from one Preston restaurant to a brand recognised across the UK & Ireland is a huge part of the story, but we didn’t want the film to feel like a history lesson.

Instead, the heritage became a jumping-off point for talking about what has remained constant: a genuine obsession with chicken, a strong internal culture and the people who continue to drive the brand forward.

The film celebrates the nostalgia and pride that comes with reaching such a milestone, while keeping one eye firmly on what happens next.

A Case Study With Personality

In the edit, we brought the interviews together into a fast-moving, personality-packed story that feels much closer to the KFC audiences know and love externally than a traditional piece of corporate communications.

Different voices bounce off one another, building up a picture of the brand through anecdotes, observations and shared experiences. The pace keeps things entertaining, while giving the more heartfelt moments enough room to land.

The result is a film that feels celebratory without becoming overly sentimental and polished without losing the authenticity of the people on screen.

Here’s to the Next 60

After working with KFC for well over a decade, helping them communicate with their people through everything from training films and culture pieces to events and major internal campaigns, being asked to help tell this particular story felt pretty special.

The finished film captures something statistics alone never really could: the personality behind one of the world’s most recognisable brands.

It’s a celebration of six decades of growth, change, memories, opportunities and people — all held together by one thing that hasn’t changed much since 1965. A very strong belief in chicken.