How KFC’s “Keep Rolling” commercial went viral

More than 1,673,497 views in a few days from posting and still rolling. 

A television commercial created by Ogilvy Cape Town for KFC Africa has become one of the most globally shared pieces of video connected to football in the past three weeks.

The ‘Keep Rolling’ shows a fictional player named Herbz who takes an exaggerated dive during a game at Athlone Stadium and then rolls out of the arena and keeps rolling through various comical local scenarios until he gets to the KFC when he is miraculously fine and keen for a Streetwise meal.

Ogilvy’s Alex Goldberg says: "Every time a famous player dives and rolls in agony on television, Twitter around the world goes crazy with shares of the ad tagged as ‘the replay of the incident’". The agency's Safaraaz Sindhi believes 'Keep Rolling' hit "a sweet spot of being a very funny take on something everyone’s talking about, which somehow gets funnier the longer the video goes on."

Although the media outlets say that the advert was inspired by the Brazilian player Neymar during the Fifa World Cup, Ogilvy Cape Town statement that it was created not thinking in specific player; but in general famous players who rolls in the camp.
For the public and media perceptions the video fit like a glove for Neymar.

Perhaps for being a key player in Brazil team; Neymar had a strong marking from the opponents and consequently some rolling in the field.
A plenty we can say; social media didn’t let it quiet and Twitter started to have some hashtag for Neymar rolling; #neymardive, #NeymarRolling, #rollingrollingrolling #PrayForNeymar.

The #NeymarChallenge invited netizens to recreate and share their rolling videos experiences; it can be of children, pets, friends.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on football in general over the past year and there is one common thread that kept popping up - players diving and rolling around to con the referee into penalising the opposition team. Based on this insight we developed a piece of communication that not only football fans but also everyone could relate to. The hyperbole of a player literally making a meal of it was something we thought people would find unexpectedly funny and maybe, just maybe, it would dominate conversations online.” Says Safaraaz Sindhi , Ogilvy Cape Town’s Creative Head.