KFC's Gameshow tells Fans ‘Don't Crack'

Created by Mother, the show will run on KFC’s YouTube channel, featuring 30 real fans vying for the title of Ultimate Believer and £50,000

By Creative Salon

30 September 2026

Over three years KFC has built its own mythology around an obsession for chicken. Now the fans aren't watching the campaign. They are the campaign. KFC has invited fans into its world by commissioning an original game show “Don’t Crack”.

“Don’t Crack” premieres on the KFC YouTube channel at 8pm on Wednesday, 30th September.

“Don't Crack” was created by Mother and directed by Pablo Rochat through Iconoclast, working alongside entertainment specialists from the TV entertainment world. Rochat is the director and artist known for blending humour, visual wit and internet-native storytelling. He partnered with Jessie Swanson, a challenge producer, who has worked on the likes of Celebrity Juice and Destination X to develop and conceptualise the challenges. It runs broadcast-length, when most brand-funded content is being cut into two-minute vertical episodes for a phone.

The programme, hosted exclusively on YouTube, premieres alongside a live watchalong. Thirty Believers, cast from across the UK, face four escalating tests of devotion. One walks away with £50,000 and the title of KFC’s Ultimate Believer. “Don't Crack” didn't need to borrow an audience. Believe had already built one, and the show was cast from it.

The cast came out of the campaign

None of the thirty contestants are actors. In March, KFC asked the nation “How Much Do You Believe In Chicken?” via a campaign spanning TVC, OOH and social. 9.8 million people answered the call, scanning a campaign QR code that took them to a casting page. Over 50,000 people then applied to be on the show, with 30 making the final cut. They range in age from 22 to 65, and include a self-proclaimed witch, a police sergeant, a martial arts trainer, a London tube driver and an NHS GP. What they share is a devotion to chicken they were willing to be filmed proving.

Three years of Believe, and what it delivered

“Don’t Crack” concludes the third chapter of Believe in Chicken, the platform KFC launched in 2024 and has deepened every year since, establishing belief with “Believe in Chicken”, reinforcing it in 2025 with “All Hail Gravy”, and in 2026 turning it into mass participation with “How Much Do You Believe in Chicken?”

That history has allowed KFC to evolve the shape of its marketing, and develop an entertainment format that is different to anything the brand has created before. Since Believe launched, KFC has reached its highest ever overall positive brand impression. Advertising awareness reached 26.0 in 2025, the highest since tracking began in 2013, up from 19.4. Net sales grew 6.4% year on year.

Don’t Crack’s four challenges

Blind Faith: 30 blindfolded Believers navigate traps and obstacles in search of ten golden eggs.

Acts of Devotion: The successful 10 contestants pair off and perform “acts of devotion” to prove greater belief than their opponent.

Eyes on the Prize: Five remaining Believers are fitted with laser headsets that punish any glance away from their golden egg, however dramatic the distraction. Including a cameo appearance from YouTube creator Aj Shabeel.

Tears of Joy: Two finalists take their places in giant nests. Their final test of faith - to shed a single tear of joy. The first tear to cross the finish line on a cheek takes the prize.

The production team

The programme was produced by a combination of advertising and entertainment production companies. Iconoclast Content and Little Dot Studios worked together, bringing talent with a broad range of entertainment format experience, from Strictly Come Dancing and Saturday Night Live through to The Apprentice and Celebs Go Dating.

To make sure the competition stood up, Julie Hewitt, adjudicator on Channel 4's The Hunt and Traitors, as our impartial adjudicator, oversaw the rules and results, so every win was a genuine one.

Monica Silic, Chief Marketing Officer at KFC UK&I, said: “Three years ago we asked Britain to believe in chicken. Almost ten million people took us up on it this Spring, and at that point a gameshow stopped being a nice idea and became the thing we actually did. We haven’t rented someone else’s audience for this. We’ve put our chicken-obsessive fans on screen, and we’ve given it over 30 minutes rather than ninety seconds, because long-form is what it takes before you genuinely care who wins.”

Tomas Coleman and Derek Man Lui, Executive Creative Directors at Mother, said: “For three years, we’ve been building the absurd universe of Believe in Chicken, establishing its own rituals and mythology. “Don’t Crack” felt like the natural next step, giving our Believers the opportunity to showcase this obsession in a real, high-stakes gameshow. It’s a quintessentially KFC way to celebrate this fandom and what it stands for, which is, as always, chicken.”

Director Pablo Rochat added "Working with Mother and KFC on ”Don’t Crack” was incredible. Their strong vision, combined with real KFC superfans, as well as Iconoclast bringing together game show production experts gave us the chance to test crazy ideas and push a gameshow about chicken as far as we could. It’s amazing what we were able to accomplish.”