Joe Public redefines 'SoulSister' with bold new Chicken Licken campaign

A dictionary might tell you a sister is a girl or woman who has parents in common with someone else, or it might refer to a female friend or peer.

But Chicken Licken has chosen to defy the dictionary’s conventions, as it does with so many others, through its new SoulSister campaign, by saying: There’s a SoulSister in all of us.  Yes, even in you, SoulMister. 

Airing for the first time on September 12 2022 on big and small screens across the SA, the SoulSister campaign launches with a film set to the soul-rocking Bomba Estéreo track, So Yo. It shows the SoulSister effect involuntarily taking over Mzansi, one (wildly out of control, gyrating, soul-shaken) body at a time, starting with a man.

Created in partnership with Joe Public and directed by Slim of Darling Films, the story starts on a train with a suit-clad businessman, whose inner SoulSister has just come out to play “during the people”, as Tweeps might say.

A telltale orange packet lands in the lap of an unsuspecting co-passenger who is perplexed by this sudden display of wild abandon as the man exits the train — his face and limbs seemingly working to a different agenda to what his diary might suggest for the day.

As we travel through the city, we encounter more and more joyfully out-of-control bodies as this SoulSister effect takes hold of every person who has enjoyed the meal. 

This bold new SoulSister campaign is the result of a deliberate move to reposition the sub-brand by making it more inclusive.

This signifies a strategic departure from the previous positioning which was more female-target focused. The 2019 campaign featured three SoulSisters who show up to champion other women in tough situations and to cheer on a young man having difficulty coming out of the closet to his dad.  

“We needed to overcome the inherent bias implied in the name SoulSister. We couldn’t change the product name, so we chose to redefine what SoulSister means extrinsically. It took on the meaning of that inner self that we all have, the part of us longing to let loose, to move, to play, and to be free of the constraints of the everyday. The version of ourselves that we don’t even know exists until we suddenly meet it. The part that longs to be fed,” says Assaf Levy, executive creative director at Joe Public. 

Xolisa Dyeshana, Joe Public’s COO, says: “We chose dance as a vehicle to represent each person’s unique SoulSister personality because it’s highly individualistic and self-expressive. The campaign gives men, women, children, everyone — regardless of who they are or where they’re from — permission to embrace that part of themselves.

“It’s another example of how Chicken Licken loves to break down stereotypes through lighthearted entertainment, using creativity to grow both brand and country beyond, by allowing them to see themselves differently and break out of the norms that society tries to impose on us.”

The campaign is set to unfold in coming weeks on social media. And according to Tlhogi Swaratlhe, Ovayo Ntlabati and Joey Gordon, the young Joe Public creative team responsible for the SoulSister concept, there’s an extra surprise to come for Chicken Licken fans on TikTok — because if there’s anywhere a person’s SoulSister wants to show off their stuff, it’s on TikTok, right?

If you feel tempted to meet your SoulSister, the meal starts from R38 for two pieces plus a portion of SoulFries® or, if your SoulSister feels inclined to party (we think it will), try the SoulSister Party 4 for only R74.

This article was paid for by Joe Public.