Good and Bad PR: KFC’s candle is smokin’!  But Action on Sugar creates some bad PR for Pret and Starbucks

Good PR

You know that smell you get when you walk into KFC that makes you drool involuntarily and your stomach start to rumble? I drive past one on my way home from work every day and even I fall victim to this smell sensation when I'm sat at the nearby traffic lights. And yes, I am a vegetarian... 

Well, the good news folks is that you can now have this smell in your very own home without having to learn the culinary skills required to master that finger lickin' chicken. Well you can't all have it, but KFC New Zealand launched a competition on its Instagram channel that offered people the chance to win a scented candle that smells of the takeaway chain's 11 herbs and spices.

All people had to do in order to enter was comment on the post with what other KFC merchandise they'd like to see. KFC bubble bath, perhaps? A cardboard cut out of Colonel Sanders for the kitchen? Whatever takes your fancy.

There was an image of the scented candle doing the rounds and I spotted coverage on the Metro, Yahoo! and tonnes of New Zealand titles.

By the way, this isn't the first time that a KFC-smelling candle has done the rounds; Kentucky for Kentucky created and sold a  “Double Down” candle smelling like the popular treat back in 2013. However, now that KFC is promoting one it's perhaps only a matter of time before one hits our shelves here in the UK.

Bad PR

Health campaigners at Action on Sugar have done a bit of research into the treats sold by various coffee chains which has no doubt left a few of them a bit red in the face.

We often think nothing of grabbing a quick slice of cake to soak up the copious amount of coffee we're chugging on, but have you ever stopped to think how much sugar might be in that small bite? Well, Action on Sugar has laid it all out for us and it sure ain't pretty!

First things first, the research found that most coffee-shop cakes contain a whopping 18 teaspoons of sugar (apparently that's more than six Krispy Kreme doughnuts) and a certain lemon drizzle slice from Pret a Manger has 72.3g of the sweet stuff in it. For the calorie-conscious of us out there, that's just shy of 700!

Starbucks and Caffè Nero were also found to be selling cakes and treats containing high amounts of sugar, which is a big no no according to Public Health England which is calling on retailers to reduce amounts in products sold.

In a day and age where people are seemingly more health conscious than ever, this research is going to be a knock to the various brands involved and will probably make customers think twice before they treat themselves to some coffee and cake.

The Action on Sugar figures have been featured wide and far, from The Guardian and Mail Online to the Daily Star and Mashable.

Written by Shannon Peerless, 10 Yetis, @ShazzaYeti on Twitter

Seen any good or bad PR lately? You know what to do @10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10Yetis.co.uk on email