Turning the Heat into a Hit
12. Craft Kancils [12.9 Music in Film Content]
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case film
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Links:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKacp7-Vges
Product/Service:
McDonald’s Spicy Korean Burger
Client:
Gerbang Alaf Restaurants Sdn Bhd
Brief:
During Raya, Malaysian airwaves are saturated with nostalgic festive ballads. McDonald’s was pushing a completely different product: the Spicy Korean Burger. To break through, we couldn't rely on standard seasonal ads or typical visual shortcuts for heat, like red graphics and sweating faces. The goal was to make spice audible, turning a physical taste reaction into an original sonic identity and a music-driven film that connected a Korean product innovation with local audiences during peak festive noise.
Solution:
We built an original K-pop track around the real physical reaction to eating heat: the sharp intake of breath ("Haah ssst haah ssst"). That involuntary breath became the song’s rhythm, tempo, and central hook, ending with the signature "Ba da ba ba ba" chime
To bring it to life, we formed a fictional boy band called SKB (Spicy Korean Boys), a name intentionally designed to match the product's shorthand, Spicy Korean Burger. Featuring Meerqeen, Hael Husaini, and Han Byul, the group starred in a full-scale music video where every frame, dance move, and transition was cut directly to the beat drops of the spicy hook, turning a physical heat sensation into an original track and film.
