Nando’s has introduced PERi-BBQ, its first-ever barbecue finisher, with a campaign built around the line “Taste the wild side of BBQ.” The launch is designed to disrupt expectations, aligning the product with a sense of deliberate disorientation to reflect the flavor experience.
Created in collaboration with Chariot Agency, the campaign incorporates visual and tonal misdirection. A billboard promoting chicken includes no image of chicken, instead showing a stark black panel that reads “[insert chicken image].”
The campaign treats all touchpoints as opportunities for subversion. Even the promotional email features an intentionally self-defeating subject line: “Nobody reads their email.”
“The work needed to feel fun and a little unhinged. The kind of work that should make us scared to show our ECD because it looks like a mistake, but in all the right ways,” said Christyna Fong, Creative Director at Chariot.
“Strategically, that feeling that something isn’t quite right is the point: to nudge people out of their Nando’s routine and try PERi-BBQ.”
“PERi-BBQ brings a fun twist to your usual Nando’s order,” said Lim Siew Ling, Marketing Director of Nando’s Malaysia and Singapore.
“It’s a little wilder than what you’d expect from anything BBQ and it shakes up the flavours you already love. We wanted the launch to feel playful and a little unexpected, because that’s exactly the reaction PERi-BBQ sparks. Familiar, but with a jolt that makes you go… Okay, that’s different.”
