To introduce the fast-food chain's new Nashville Hot Chicken to the media, KFC hosted a pop-up in New York on January 14 at Bleecker Event Hall. According to Bitsy Rich, account supervisor, event management at Access Emanate, the goal of the event was to provide samples of the new menu item to guests among an authentic Nashville ambiance. "KFC is working to roll out a new aesthetic to their retail locations, so we wanted to make sure that we captured that in creating an overall concept," she said.
The blank retail space was transformed with elements including a Celebrity Chef Wall, which Rich said will also be featured at newly designed retail locations, that showed pictures of the famed Colonel Sanders over the years. Hay bales and other rustic touches such as drinks in Mason jars added to the look and feel, and props including Colonel Sanders cut-outs made for fun photo ops.
Guests were served passed hors d'oeuvres of KFC staples including mac 'n' cheese and mashed potatoes with gravy before the main event—the Nashville Hot Chicken—was introduced. "In order to serve hot, crispy chicken, we needed to have a KFC store in New York fry the chicken to KFC standards, and then delivered to the venue to be sauced, prepped, and plated," Rich said of the catering, for which the brand partnered with Feast on Us. "It was a process that we wanted to make sure that we got right, so we enlisted the help of KFC head chef Bob Das. We had a very specific timeline that outlined the steps we took from frying to serving. Based on how quickly our guests ate all our samples, we are happy to say it turned out great."
The pop-up was the first KFC has done to launch a new product; while there are no other specific Nashville Hot Chicken events in the works, Rich said the brand recently wrapped up an eight-city Nashville Hot food truck tour that visited cities named Nashville around the United States.