New Chicken Licken epic journey to inner peace

“When you have a trusting client that allows you to do what you do best – delivering on creative excellence – you constantly strive to produce great work that is standout and relatable,” comments Amber Mackeurtan, Group Account Director at Joe Public.

Joe Public United paired up with Director Dean Blumberg from Bouffant to create this visually engaging and humorous commercial filmed both locally and internationally all the way from Cairo to Jozi.

The story begins near the Great Pyramid of Giza and centres around a South African archaeologist, “Archie”, whose excavations wake an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the great “Hor-Aha”. Archie, now under the threat of the pharaoh’s curse, assures him that he knows where he can find inner peace again. They set off on an epic journey that takes them through the busy streets of Cairo, the dusty roads of Sudan, the plains of Mount Kilimanjaro and the beaches of Tanzania. When they reach their final destination, Johannesburg, “Archie” takes the great “Hor-Aha” into a Chicken Licken® store and offers him the new Rock My Soul 3 Straight™ meal. After his first bite, his restless soul is instantly satisfied and he returns to his tomb, taking the rest of his Soul Food® meal with him.

But wait! The pharaoh’s rest will be disturbed yet again and this time by people visiting his tomb at www.rockmysoul.co.za. These intruders are tasked with returning the pharaoh back to his eternal slumber through an interactive microsite/digital game where users match hieroglyphic symbols to play out various scenes which may or may not help the pharaoh in his quest to find true “inner peace”, or better yet, the taste of the Rock My Soul® 3 meal. The online game is being created by the agency’s digital team, Connect Joe Public, and will go live on 9 June, together with a two-minute cinema commercial, capitalising tactically on the launch of The Mummy at cinemas nationwide.

“The campaign embodies the concept of inner peace in a quirky, light-hearted and humorous way. By teaming up with a talented director, we were able to create a delightful adventure with visually rich locations and styling that make it so memorable. It felt like we were producing a feature film,” concludes Roanna Williams, Executive Creative Director, Joe Public.

The campaign will be flighted on TV, digital advertising, social media, a microsite, cinema and print.

Agency credits:

Group Chief Creative Officer: Pepe Marais
Client: Chicken Licken
Agency: Joe Public United (ATL & Digital)
Chief Creative Officer: Xolisa Dyeshana
Executive Creative Director: Roanna Williams
Creative Director: Martin Schlumpf & Claudi Potter
Agency TV Producer: Di Cole
Group Account Director: Amber Mackeurtan
Digital Creative Director: Daryn Drake
Digital Account Director: Emma Dougherty
Production Company: Bouffant
Director: Dean Blumberg
Director of Photography: Adam Bentel
Post production facility: Tessa Ford/Refinery
Final mix: Louis Enslin
Music: Hans Zimmer/Library Music