Red Rooster has launched a new campaign centred around its Hot Honey Crunch Fried Chicken, developed in collaboration with Leo Australia.

The campaign features an AI-powered e-storybook titled ‘The Birds & The Bees: The Unofficial Story of How Hot Honey Crunch Was Made’. This digital book is styled in the nostalgic tone of the classic Golden Books genre, reimagined for an adult audience.

The storybook presents a parody narrative featuring characters Chris P. Chicken and Hot Honey, exploring the ‘origin story’ of the Hot Honey chicken. The campaign aims to generate cultural buzz and maintain the menu item’s relevance. The digital book is available for free through Red Rooster’s merchandise shop.

Casey Burgess, known for her role in Hi-5, will perform a read-aloud of the story on Red Rooster’s social media platforms. The campaign also includes online video, digital content, public relations efforts, creator content, and a charity partnership with Red Nose Australia.

On Red Nose Day, August 28, Red Rooster will donate $1 from every Hot Honey Satisfryer Box sold to Red Nose. The campaign is set to run for six weeks, beginning on August 27, 2025.

Red Rooster CEO Sam Bragg said, “Hot Honey has cemented itself as one of our most loved menu items, but we know there are still plenty of Australians yet to try it. To capture attention of new customers, and satisfy the cravings of Reds devotees, we knew this campaign needed to be fresh and unexpected.”

Bragg added, “Rather than rolling out just another TVC, we decided to lean into culture and storytelling, and ‘The Birds & The Bees’ provides the perfect way to create buzz, spark conversation, and engage customers in a more playful, shareable way. It’s a great way to have some fun with the brand and satisfy our customer’s chicken cravings at the same time.”

Michelle Walsh, Creative Director at Leo Australia said, “We set out to do something a QSR brand hadn’t done before – use parody publishing as a campaign platform. It allowed us to show off the product in a way that was cheeky, culturally relevant, and distinctly Reds.

“We’ve added some spice to the classic ‘birds and the bees’ story, writing an adults-only picture book about the conception of Reds’ Hot Honey chicken. In our case, the bird is a crunchy piece of Reds’ fried chicken named ‘Chris P. Chicken’ and the bee is a jar of sauce known as ‘Hot Honey’. With the assistance of AI tools, we crafted a story about these two lovers, who overcome great odds to make Reds’ most deliciously saucy offering yet,” she said.

The project marks the first use of AI illustration tools for both Red Rooster and Leo Australia. Limited printed copies of the book will be used for content and giveaways.

Walsh highlighted the role of AI in the campaign: “The campaign is a great example of how brands can use AI to elevate creativity. By taking something as unexpected as an adult’s only picture book and bringing it to life with AI illustrations we have delivered a fun, distinctive idea, in record time that will cut through and get noticed.”