KFC Hong Kong launches edible ‘finger-lickin’ good’ nail polishes that taste like chicken

KFC is taking “finger-lickin’ good” to a literal new level. The multinational fast food chain has launched a line of edible nail polishes that taste like chicken.

Creative firm Ogilvy & Mather teamed up with the food technologists at McCormick to release a limited edition line of edible and very lickable nail polishes in Hong Kong. McCormick is the spice company that provides KFC’s famous but secret mix of 11 herbs and spices.

“To use, consumers simply apply and dry like regular nail polish, and then lick – again and again and again,” the instruction reads.

“The recipe for our edible nail polish is unique and was specifically designed to hold the flavour, but to also dry with a glossy coat similar to nail polish,” Ogilvy creative director John Koay has been quoted by Ad Week as saying. “This campaign is designed to be intriguing and fun to increase excitement around the KFC brand in Hong Kong.

KFC has been teasing its customers with the nail polishes for weeks, even releasing a curious ad to go along with the bizarre product.

YouTube/Kfc Hk

Like KFC’s chicken, the nail polishes come in two flavours/shades: Original Recipe and Hot & Spicy. Both are designed to taste exactly like chicken.

When BBC’s Juliana Liu taste-tested them, though, she found that the flavours and shade were a bit off from advertised. The Hot & Spicy flavour looks like a bottle of Tabasco hot sauce in burnt orange shade. The Original Recipe, however, was a dirty olive green in colour with black specks, not even close to the advertised nude shade.

As it turned out, both bottles were already expired. As the nail polishes are made of entirely edible ingredients – spice blends suspended in starch with vegetable gum – they have a much faster shelf life. These polishes, packaged in designer bottles and boxes, must be refrigerated and will last for only five days.

As for the taste, the Hot & Spicy nail polish apparently tasted exactly like the paste used in KFC’s hot & spicy chicken. But while the polish’s taste lingered on the tongue, the fried chicken flavour was non-existent, according to the BBC. It was the same for the Original Recipe shade. There was a “nice balance of spice accented by black pepper, but again, no chicken.”

The Hot & Spicy also performed well as a nail polish, though the shade was extremely transparent. The Original Recipe, which oxidised into green colour, “clumped in an unappetising way.”

The KFC nail polishes aren’t available for the public yet, with the fast food giant only providing samples to the media for market reaction.