KFC Italia Hires a New York Italian-American to Settle the Focaccia Debate

• DUDE: Milano’s mockumentary campaign, The Real Gusto Italo-Americano, casts New York actor and model Fabrizio Brienza , as KFC’s official taste tester
• Instead of dodging Italians’ famous food purism, the campaign leans into it, positioning two new chicken focaccias as proudly Italian-American
• Launching 6 October across KFC Italia’s Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, with packaging by DUDE: Design

A US fast-food chain reworking one of Italy’s most loved breads was always going to face scrutiny from Italian diners, so when KFC decided to swap the bun for focaccia with two new sandwiches, DUDE: Milano embraced the potential controversy with a touch of comedy.

The Focaccia all’Americana, with fried chicken, bacon and cheddar, and the Focaccia all’Italiana, with fried chicken, tomato, mozzarella and pesto are neither Italian nor American. They are Italian-American, in the same tradition as spaghetti and meatballs or chicken parmigiana. These are dishes Italians like to disown, but Italian-Americans defend with total conviction, and so the campaign needed a judge who shared that conviction.

That judge is Fabrizio Brienza, former model for Armani, Valentino, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana. He has acted in Taken, Duplicity and The Adjustment Bureau, and played Nico, underboss to Chazz Palminteri’s character, in MGM+’s Godfather of Harlem. Between shoots, he works the door at Paul’s Casablanca, one of New York’s most exclusive clubs. KFC flew him from New York to Milan to try the new range, his first trip home in seven years.

The hero film is a comedic, vlog-meets-mockumentary account of Brienza’s return to Italy, blending polished cinematic footage with phone clips shot by Brienza himself, and borrowing the talking-head format of The Office. The film follows him from New York to a KFC in Milan, where he puts both focaccias to the test and delivers his verdict straight to camera.

The film mixes polished footage with Brienza’s own phone footage, and he narrates it in a mix of Italian and English. It opens on a Milan street, where Brienza gets out of a black van outside a KFC in a pinstripe suit and aviators, throwing a few shadowboxing jabs at the camera and lowering his sunglasses. The frame freezes, and a caption names him KFC’s “Expert of Gusto Italo-Americano.” His voiceover sets out his position that Italians think their food is the most delicious in the world, but they’ve never tried real Italian-American cuisine. “But I have,” he adds, “and I f***ing love it.”

A “Qualche giorno prima…” (“A few days earlier…”) title card then cuts to vertical clips he shot himself. He explains that KFC Italia called him in New York with news of a new Italian-American recipe, so he set out on his mission to find out if it’s really as good as they say. He packs a bag in his New York apartment, waves from a car window, crosses Manhattan and watches Italy appear through the plane window, then lands with a cheerful “Coming back to Italy, people!”

Brienza leans into every Italian-American stereotype, and clearly relishes it. In pinstripes, an open collar and aviators, he’s all swagger and unshakeable confidence, a character in the tradition of the Italian-Americans of film and TV. He switches freely between Italian and English and treats the tasting with the gravity of a man who considers himself the final authority on Italian-American flavour. There’s a call from his mother, some serious deliberation over pesto, and a sign-off aimed squarely at Italy’s food purists: “Go focaccia yourself!”

The campaign is published as a collaboration between @kfc_italia and @fabrizio.brienza. It is supported by paid social cutdowns and by a street-style catchphrase video in the format Brienza’s followers know from his Instagram and TikTok. In that video, he walks past a KFC and takes off his jacket to reveal a “What the Focaccia” T-shirt. The idea also runs through an Italian-American radio spot and in-store communication designed to bring “a little bit of Little Italy” into every restaurant.

“For the packaging, DUDE: Design created wrapping paper inspired by the traditional Italian way of wrapping focaccia. Each recipe gets its own graphic identity rooted in both Italian and American visual culture.

“With The Focaccia, we wanted to tell the story of the encounter between Italy and the United States without taking ourselves too seriously, using these very cultural influences as a distinctive element of the communication. Fabrizio Brienza felt like the natural choice to bring this story to life: he is not simply the face of the campaign, but embodies its very concept, allowing us to engage with audiences through an authentic social-first language,” says Marzia Farè, CMO of KFC Italia.

“With this campaign, we’re bringing to life every Italian-American’s ultimate dream: making their way back home to the beloved “Bel Paese”. At the same time, The Focaccia lets Italians tap straight into the world of American street-food culture, reimagined the Italian way. And the KFC x Brienza collab? It’s a lot like focaccia and fried chicken: totally unexpected, yet somehow a perfect match” says Luca Riva, Executive Creative Director of DUDE:Milano

The Focaccia all’Americana and Focaccia all’Italiana are available in KFC restaurants across Italy from 6 October, while stocks last.

Source: DUDE: Milano

  DUDE: Milano, Fabrizio Brienza, Focaccia, KFC, KFC Italy, Luca RIva, Marzia Farè