KFC South Africa has come up with a winner of an advertisement on the back of the Fifa World Cup. The ad is reminiscent of Brazilian player Neymar's antics when fouled, which has been the subject of many jokes and memes throughout the tournament.
In the ad, commissioned by agency Ogilvie Cape Town, a soccer player is seen throwing himself to the ground and rolling... all the way off the field and through the city streets, until he eventually rolls into a KFC restaurant, where he buys a meal.
"The ad was actually not targeted specifically at Neymar. It was making fun of this behaviour in general. It just so happened that viewers linked Neymar to the ad when he took his roll along the sideline in the Brazil vs Serbia game," Karien Cherry, advert director for production house Giant Films, told HuffPost.
"His roll had an uncanny similarity to the roll in our ad," she said, adding that she knew the concept would draw people in.
"What fans saw in the opening of the ad had to be instantly recognisable as being part of the world of football, and so we chose to shoot the opening scene in the same way that a broadcast match would be filmed," Cherry said.
"From there, we needed to ensure that the player making a meal of his dive and the surprises along his journey were entertaining enough to keep viewers hooked!"
The advert already has more 1.8-million views and the comment section is hilarious. Cherry says she did not expect this much hype over the advert.
"It's what everyone dreams of, the kind of holy grail of advertising, but going viral is one of those things that no one can actually control or predict. It takes a great idea, good strategy, excellent craft, and a serendipitous linkage of events to pierce the cultural zeitgeist of the day and go viral," she said.