BRISBANE, Australia — KFC is cooking up a campaign with Australian artist Shannon “Nollsie” Noll that plays into two codes of football with a special menu item and a new “anthem,” fresh out the frier.
Noll, runner-up of the first season of Australian Idol in 2003, is the face and voice of an Australia-wide project with KFC, announced Wednesday (March 1).
First up, Noll and punk outfit DZ Deathrays have cut the collaborative track “Fried Night Footy,” which will soundtrack KFC advertising throughout the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia Football League (AFL) seasons, kicking off Friday, March 3.
Then comes the food.
KFC is dishing up the exclusive “Shannon Dinner Roll,” which combines hot & crispy boneless chicken with chilli relish, cheese, lettuce and “supercharged sauce” on a dinner roll, and will be available at a number of NRL and AFL games throughout the season.
Freebies will be handed out during the NRL expansion franchise Dolphins’ first home game, March 11 at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane.
“I’m super happy to be working with KFC and DZ Deathrays on this anthem,” says Noll in a statement. “It’s a definite earworm and you’re gonna catch yourself singing it in the shower, the car and maybe even in your sleep. Plus, working with KFC to create the Shannon Roll, talk about a dream come true.”
Though an unusual pairing with Noll and DZ Deathrays occupying different spaces on the music spectrum, both acts command sizeable fanbases in Australia. Since coming to prominence with his run in Australian Idol, Noll has bagged two ARIA No. 1 albums and three chart-topping singles. The title track from his 2005 No. 1 album Lift won an APRA Music Award for most performed Australian work.
Meanwhile, DZ Deathrays own a brace of ARIA Awards in the best hard rock/heavy metal album category for 2012’s Bloodstreams, and 2014’s Black Rat.
Adds Sally Spriggs, chief marketing officer for KFC Australia: ”The anthem alongside the bespoke footy snack, the Shannon Dinner Roll, sets us up for an exciting season of footy ahead.”
“Fried Night Footy” will also be available to stream on KFC Australia’s Spotify page.
It’s not the first time KFC has teamed-up with Australian music talent for a tasty campaign. In 2022, the restaurant chain tapped ARIA Award-winning EDM duo Peking Duk for the “Peking Cluk Burger” and a one-off live event in Sydney, Feastival.