I started writing this article thinking that there would be maybe a dozen games on Super Nintendo and Genesis/Mega Drive to cover, and I think I opened a Pandora’s box.
All the big brands have gotten into it, it’s endless.
I even thought it was over in the early 2000s. I was so naïve…
Here are a few other game series featuring the mascots of food companies.
The Pringles Games
The mascot of Pringles chips has no arms or legs? Or even hands or feet, unlike Rayman?
No problem, we can still make a video game series out of it.
Nestlé Nesquik Games
M&M’s Games
KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken (or KFC) Games
I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator (2019)
“I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator is a dating simulation game developed by Psyop. Commissioned by fast-food chain KFC, it was made available for free on Steam on September 24, 2019. Moving away from traditional dating simulations, the game humorously asks players to maintain a romantic relationship with a fictional depiction of KFC’s iconic founder, Colonel Sanders, who is portrayed as an attractive fellow at a cooking school.
The launch of this game coincided with KFC’s efforts to reinstate Colonel Sanders in its marketing campaigns, a trend that began in 2015. It is part of a broader KFC strategy to transform the colonel into a contemporary pop culture figure, giving him a modern image. The game garnered a lot of attention for its wacky concept before and after its release, which helped make it widely received by the public.
Other KFC Games
Why would video game studios dedicate themselves to developing these types of games?
When a company like McDonalds, Pepsi, Danone or Coca-Cola wants to produce a video game, it’s out of their area of expertise. So they go to video game studios that already do this all the time. Studios then dedicate some or all of their resources to developing a game for them. This is a contract. The business of game development is something very difficult as it takes so much time, iteration, and money to potentially release a game. And the success of the game is anything but guaranteed. When a studio gets a contract, it helps secure their team’s salary for many months or years.
It also allows some developers to practice and iterate to develop ideas and experience for future games.
So, many studios try to develop their games while doing service work for other companies to pay the bills. This is also explained in the video: The Making of the Burger King Video Games – Documentary.
