Table of ContentsIntroductionBackground and ContextChallengesSolutionsCommunication TacticsResultsStrengthsWeaknessesRecommendationsIntroductionThe popular fast food company KFC was forced to temporarily close hundreds of its outlets in February 2018 in the United Kingdom United due to lack of chicken delivery. This problem arose when the company transferred its delivery contract from Bidvest to DHL and QSL. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayBackground and ContextKFC is an American fast food chain founded in 1930 by “Colonel Harland Sanders” in “North Kentucky”. In the beginning, it was known as Kentucky Fried Chicken and opened its first franchise in “Salt Lake City, Utah” in 1952. It is famous around the world for its delicious fried chicken. It is the second largest fast food company in the world after McDonald's. Its “finger-licking” franchises are present in 136 countries with nearly 23,000 locations. In the second week of February 2018, KFC transferred its delivery contact in Great Britain to DHL, a company owned by Germany's Deutsche Post, which brought the business to market. consequences of the chicken delivery shortage. Some claim something was noticed at the delivery depot where chicken was wasting because readers were waiting for hours to arrive at the company's new delivery site in Rugby. The chamber said the site was used to store chicken before it was registered for this purpose, but KFC's contract transport worker DHL has since signed up. KFC said it was doing everything it could to “maintain a strategic distance” from food waste and DHL said it was trying to tackle the problem. There is a website called “wired.co.uk” which published a blog under the title “The inside story of the great KFC chicken shortage of 2018”. This blog presents the fact that – “at around 1.40am on February 14, a collision involving seven vehicles took place between junctions two and three of the M6. One man was killed and two others injured. Police cordoned off the area between the two intersections to investigate and eventually arrested a man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Shortly after, two trucks collided near the first intersection, but neither driver was injured. These three intersections are near Rugby, where the DHL warehouse is located. With its trucks stuck in traffic as soon as they left the depot, and no other place to send deliveries from, the delays that would lead to the KFC chicken shortage began here.” As a result, hundreds of the company's food outlets began running out of chicken products. Prior to the transformation of this delivery contact, all supplies to UK KFC restaurants were delivered by Bidvest, a South African distributor. United Kingdom February 16, 2018 Disappointed KFC customers posted on social media about the unexpected closure of some KFC food stores (thesun.co.uk, 2018). This trend continued across Britain with news that hundreds of KFC outlets were closed. Signs in store windows said: “Sorry, we’re closed.” We deliver fresh chicken to our restaurants, but we had some issues with delivery today. We wouldn’t want to be open without offering our full menu, but we’ll get back to the fryer as soon as possible.” During this time, no one was aware of what was happening.Then, on February 17, 2018, KFC confirmed the news that restaurants were running out of chicken. A total of 562 KFC food stores were closed over the weekend of disruption, with the number reaching 646 on Sunday evening. KFC published a list of 338 of the 900 outlets still open on Monday evening. Few of them offered only limited offers. This crisis was so complicated that even the company was unable to say when this problem would be resolved. Challenges The passion for fried chicken was so strong in people's minds that they were eager to solve it. Waiting for KFC to return to the rails. Others began moving to other food chains like McDonald's and Burger King. This situation was nothing short of a nightmare for KFC as it is the customers who help a business reach the heights of success. So it was a challenge for KFC to maintain public trust. This problem was becoming a crisis and the company's reputation was collapsing in people's eyes. It was very difficult for the company to maintain a good image among fried chicken lovers. People started making fun of the company in different ways. Famous comedian Aurie Styla from London wrote on her Twitter: "How can you part with the only thing you are known for selling." Danielle Harold wrote on February 20, 2018: “So KFC is just a chip shop now.” Similarly, Helen wrote on February 19, 2018: “How can Kentucky Fried Chicken run out of chicken? Next thing you know, McDonald's is going to run out of Donald. Many regular customers who regularly went to KFC to have at least one meal a day started calling the police and complaining about this situation. The police were tired of these kinds of calls. To put an end to this, the 'Tower Hamlets Police' tweeted: 'Please don't call us about the #KFC crisis - it's not a police matter if your restaurant favorite doesn’t serve the menu you want.” It has become so viral on Twitter that this tweet has currently been liked over 20,000 times and has been retweeted almost 12,000 times (Barr, 2018). It has been very difficult for KFC to deal with these social media campaigns. SolutionsIn March 2018, KFC returned to its original chicken delivery recipes by re-signing with Bidvest after last month's supply fallout with DHL. To deal with the social campaign, KFC reacted with a full-page apology. Newspaper ads from popular marketing team and agency Mother London. KFC used public relations strategies through web-based networking media, explicitly captivating its customers on Twitter. #KFCCrisis began trending on Twitter, so the organization used online life strategies to control the story of further damage to the brand. “To put it simply,” KFC tweeted, “we have the chicken, we have the restaurants, but we just had a hard time putting them together.” Another tweet directly following the emergency incorporated fun realism that played off a nursery rhyme. The tweet assured customers that the Colonel worked there and the graphic exclaimed: "The chicken crossed the road, but not to our restaurants." Communication Tactics To manage social media campaigns, KFC responded with full-page newspaper advertisements showing a bucket of chicken with its KFC logo rearranged to "FCK". The accompanying text read: “WE ARE SORRY. A chicken restaurant without chicken. It's not ideal... Thank you for your patience'. KFC also included: "We sincerely apologize to customers, especially those who have gone out of their way to find us and unfortunately we..