KFC's 'Coq au Vin': how a wine nickname became a pop-up
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
TL;DR: KFC UK is turning La Vieille Ferme's 'Chicken Wine' nickname into a four-day 'Coq au Vin' wine bar in Shoreditch (28-31 August), pairing fried chicken with wine for £15 a session — a low-cost, culturally fluent stunt built entirely on an internet in-joke.
What's happening
From 28 to 31 August 2026, KFC and wine brand La Vieille Ferme are opening 'Coq au Vin', a pop-up wine bar at the Kachette Annex in Shoreditch, London. Entry is £15 for a 90-minute session, with a handful of walk-in spaces on the door.
The menu leans into the gag: Popcorn Chicken with sparkling rosé, Hot Wings with La Vieille Ferme Rouge, and Original Recipe Tenders with rosé or blanc, alongside the return of an exclusive 'Chicken Wine' label. The activation was created with agency Here Be Dragons.
The insight: borrow a meme you didn't make
La Vieille Ferme has been affectionately nicknamed 'Chicken Wine' online for years, thanks to the bird on its label. KFC didn't manufacture that joke — it simply plugged into a cultural truth that already existed and gave it a physical home.
As Phoebe Syms, Fame and Partnerships Lead at KFC UK and Ireland, put it: 'We're iconic fried chicken. They're the iconic Chicken Wine. Coq au Vin is one of those partnerships that just makes sense.' When the logic is that obvious, the audience does half the storytelling for you.
Marketing Minute's read: earned-media math beats paid-media spend
A four-day, single-site pop-up costs a fraction of a national campaign, yet it has already earned coverage across The Grocer, Retail Gazette, Time Out and more. That is the whole mechanic: build a physically photographable, eminently tweetable experience and let the press and the public handle distribution.
The pattern behind a stunt that travels is consistent. It is rooted in a genuine cultural in-joke, tightly art-directed for sharing, deliberately scarce (four days, limited spaces, instant FOMO), and credibly on-brand for both partners. Miss any one of those and it reads as a gimmick.
What businesses should do
You do not need KFC's budget to run this play. Find the nickname, myth or in-joke your customers already use about you, then dramatise it in the real world. Scarcity plus shareability equals reach — and a small, well-made experience will out-earn a big, forgettable ad buy almost every time.
Quick FAQ
What is KFC's 'Coq au Vin' pop-up?
A four-day wine bar (28-31 August 2026) at the Kachette Annex in Shoreditch, pairing KFC fried chicken with La Vieille Ferme wine — the brand nicknamed 'Chicken Wine' — for £15 per 90-minute session.
Why is it called 'Chicken Wine'?
La Vieille Ferme has long been nicknamed 'Chicken Wine' online because of the bird on its label; KFC leaned into that existing joke rather than inventing a new one.
What can marketers learn from it?
Building an activation on a real cultural in-joke, then making it scarce and highly shareable, generates earned media that far outweighs the cost of the stunt itself.
— Alicia Morris, Creative & Campaigns Writer at Marketing Minute
The best brand stunts don't manufacture a story — they dramatise a joke your audience is already in on.
What nickname or in-joke do your customers already use about your brand — and could you turn it into a real-world experience?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Campaign, The Grocer, Famous Campaigns, Retail Gazette.
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Written by Alicia Morris, Creative & Campaigns Writer at Marketing Minute
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