Zero to hero: Chicken Licken turns José Mercibeaucoup into a household name

“Who is José?” This question stirred the Twitterverse into a frenzy after renowned SA football journalist Lorenz Köhler tweeted about a mysterious coach who'd never lost a match in his career. 

Soccer enthusiasts were so intrigued that the hashtag #UndefeatedSinceForever started trending.

All was revealed the next day, when Joe Public launched the latest brand campaign for Chicken Licken, SA's popular fast-food chain. 

Titled “Undefeated Since Forever”, the campaign features a hilarious short film about a French soccer coach named José Mercibeaucoup, who takes the South African football league by storm with his unorthodox formations.

José Mazibuko, as the locals refer to him, first came to Mzansi in 2010 as an assistant kit manager for one of the teams competing in the Soccer World Cup. After the tournament ended, he stayed in SA and ultimately becomes the head coach of The Flaming Birds. His unconventional and innovative coaching approach sees this local team obliterate the competition time and again.

Though José could have become a global legend with many teams seeking his services worldwide, he decides to remain in SA and continue coaching The Flaming Birds because of one thing: Chicken Licken.

“The new Chicken Licken brand ad reminds us of a time when the world was arriving and discovering SA. José was one of them and once he found Chicken Licken, he never went back,” says Adam Weber, integrated executive creative director at Joe Public.

“Director Greg Gray and the team at Romance Films brought their storytelling magic to José’s meteoric rise from French kit manager to head coach of The Flaming Birds. His undefeated coaching style is all about formations and the twist is where he gets them from.”

Watch the Chicken Licken ad below to discover the surprising source of José's inspiration: