What KFC's Goofy VR Escape Room Taught Me About the Power of Storytelling in Communication

So far this year, KFC’s marketing campaigns have included publishing a romance novella starring Colonel Sanders, called Tender Wings of Desire, and launching a chicken sandwich into space in a high-altitude balloon.

It got weirder yesterday with a special media event that featured a VR escape room — a nightmarish secret lair with robotic arms dangling from the ceiling, a painting of the Colonel that shot laser beams from its eyes and a music box that — for some reason — helped me place chicken on a drying rack. So in that virtual room I stood, wearing my headset, making a batch of virtual chicken, coached all the while by the voice of Colonel Sanders himself.

Why did they do this? In part, to remind people KFC actually cooks its chicken. And while building a VR experience just to get that point across seems overly complicated, it’s backed by some pretty clever thinking. In fact, this thinking is useful to people who want to communicate better with anyone — including their coworkers.

First off, some background: While most chains thaw and microwave, KFC cooks from scratch. Each batch of KFC original recipe chicken requires an intensive 25-minute process that involves inspecting, rinsing, breading, racking and pressure frying.

However, most people don’t realize that, says…