Popular sangoma Mkhulu Romeo has come out guns blazing against popular chicken franchise KFC after they allegedly stole his Streetwise kota idea and renamed it Kentucky Sphatlo.
Mkhulu Romeo who is a a graphic Designer, Art director, Producer, event Organizer and Sangoma claims that he presented the Kota Idea in person to a KFC brand Manager in 2019, however after pitching the idea he was blue ticked by the KFC brand Manager. When Mkhulu Romeos images depicting his kota idea which was styled by food stylist Bathandwa Nkambule started circulating all over social media with many sallivating consumers falling in love with the concept and requesting to buy the Kota, he was slapped with a letter of demand by KFC lawyers stating that he must take down the images of the KFC Kota. He evntually took the images down but by then the wild fire had spread with more and more people sharing and requesting the Streetwise Kota.
KFC has always had a culture of collaborating with creatives and this was the idea behind Mkhulu Romz Kota idea, all he wanted was a collaboration between himself and KFC. On a Facebook live video Mkhulu Romz said
“What they are doing is not okay at all. They should have called and said you remember that kota presentation? Can we collaborate? What is so difficult about that?” he asked.
In the presentation that he had submitted in 2019 he had also included sneaker designs as well as other items that could be sold during activations.
He added that his initial meeting with the brand manager was supposed to culminate in a meeting with the big bosses at KFC head offices, but this did not happen because the brand manager started ignoring him.
KFC spokesperson Portia Mvubu responded to the allegations. Mvubu denied that the idea was stolen from Malepe.
“While we love South Africa’s passion for KFC, we can confirm that this product was not as a result of a concept presented to us by Romeo. For more than 50 years, KFC has been inspired by the South African heritage and culture and has regularly brought innovation like the Streetwise Chow, Masala Crunch and Mrs Ball’s Chutney burger to our menu,”
She added: “It is no secret that the Sphatlho is a well-known South African meal and the limited edition Sphatlho is a result of an extensive product development process – aimed to be a KFC take on this South African classic.
