KFC Streetwise Cheese Top Burger : Love or Hate?

KFC Streetwise Cheese Top Burger is maybe the most hated among the products that KFC Philippines has ever put out. And if you are among the haters, to tell you the truth, save your energy. Hear us out. 😉

 

First Impressions

When KFC announced that they have a new product, Ken and I, like most of you, chuckled at the sight of their ad. KFC Cheese Top Burger – a burger with cheese on top of the bun instead of in the middle. Sure, that looks weird and sounds funny right?

Still, Ken and I were curious about it. I read people on my network saying it’s a plain ol’ burger, nothing fancy. I mean, c’mon. For Php 50.00 WITH drinks, what do you expect? 😉

I had EXACTLY that thought in my head when KFC told us they’ll be delivering Cheese Top Burgers for me and Ken to try. This happened over a month ago, a few days after they released it, and memes about it were everywhere (I know, this is an overdue post). Before this, we were already planning on ordering it for takeout when we go grocery-shopping over the weekend. Good thing they did bring us samples ’cause the KFC branch here in Malabon no longer delivers to our area. The burgers were handed over to us still nice and warm.

First impressions were okay, it’s not messy at all to handle. The cheese is baked on top of the bun, so it’s not like it was just placed on top of it or spread like Cheez Whiz.

Now, the taste. Ken wasn’t impressed. But, when I asked if he liked it, he said it’s okay, nothing surprising. I guess he still had that thought in his head about how ridiculous this idea was. He finished it off while I took my time to inspect it.

Yes, it looks like an ordinary burger, but this time, along with the tasty Original Recipe chicken patty, it’s further flavored with KFC’s special blend of garlic parmesan dressing that I genuinely enjoyed. I was eating it with an open mind, and I thought to myself that for Php 50.00 with drinks (I couldn’t emphasize this enough), it is very tasty for an affordable price. Perfect for a quick snack, especially when you’re on the go.

 

Silly or an Effective Marketing Strategy?

I admit that some of the promotional messages from KFC may be a little over the top. However, in a marketing point of view, their strategy coming out with this new product did work. Remember Magnum Ice Cream? Sure, they received a lot of nasty comments, but along with it was the curiosity of hundreds upon hundreds of people buying and tasting the ice cream bar to see if it was truly worth all the hype (and fuss). Most of you might argue that the ice cream was actually good and shouldn’t be compared with this burger.

Well, the thing is, what happened with Magnum back then is almost exactly what happened with KFC Cheese Top Burger. Both the open-minded and the enraged went to KFC (or ordered for delivery) to have a taste, mostly to prove that they were right all along. I’m sure KFC didn’t expect the amount of publicity and free promotion they received; hundreds of people posted about their new burger on various social media sites. I have seen tons of bloggers jumping in for a chance to share what they think of the burger – mostly to rant about it. I, somehow, delayed this post because I wanted to observe.

KFC could’ve EASILY named this product Cheesy Bun Burger since that’s what it really is – cheese baked or melted on the top bun of a burger making it cheesier. But, Cheesy Bun Burger, that’s just boring. *Hohum* 😀

Seriously, Cheese Top Burger was an excellent idea! It even got free promotions from people who loved it and hated it through memes, and, I bet you already saw this hilarious parody on Jimmy Kimmel‘s show. And for the record, it’s not messy at all, in case you haven’t tried it yet.

The marketing manager of KFC has said the sales were going very well. Even the Huffington Post published a feature about it. Another online news site from the US slammed KFC on one of their posts. I’m not linking to them since there were comments that were a tad racist, if you ask me. They obviously didn’t know how much delicious food we enjoy here in the Philippines and as Filipinos.

Go ahead, hate all you want. I’m sure, just like Magnum, many of you tried KFC’s Cheese Top Burger. You might have hated it from the very first bite because of how ridiculous it was and decided to just finish it off ’cause you don’t want to waste your money spent on it. You might think the cheese on top didn’t make any difference. Well, again, the name, the marketing or how it was promoted made you go to KFC (online or at their store) to sample it. IT WORKED! For me, that’s the bottomline.

Here’s the real commercial for this burger:

So, instead of wasting your energy laughing and hating on the idea of KFC’s Streetwise Cheese Top Burger, understand that there is always a promotional strategy behind every product that comes out of the market. It’s business. Sure, it may not be the most profound idea from KFC, nonetheless, it’s a product I’m sure many enjoyed, like I did.

The hype may have died down, but I can still see people leaving hate comments on KFC’s Facebook page when they post about this burger. To that, I say RELAX. The next time you decide to order the KFC Cheese Top Burger, just enjoy every bite while it’s still warm since I believe that it’s a decently good burger for Php 50.00 (with drinks), especially for those in a budget and are craving for a burger or KFC’s chicken. And if you don’t agree with whatever I said in this post, well, like what I always say, to each his own. 🙂