Chicken Licken ‘Soulfluencer’

“Spending time in the American South was important because you can’t fake that kind of texture,” says Lourens. “We kept the crew small, worked with real people, and let things unfold. The more you try to control it, the less honest it becomes.” It’s a deceptively simple philosophy, but it demands a director comfortable with uncertainty, someone willing to gather far more material than they’ll ever use and trust that the story will reveal itself in the edit. 

Talking to Joe Public’s CCO Xolisa Dyeshana and ECD Martin Schlumpf about their highlights from the shoot down south, Xolisa says, “Something I won’t forget, there was this one particular guy that we shot, and he owned a pawn shop. We thought it would be quite nice if we got him to hold a guitar that was in his store as a prop. And he asked, ‘Can I play something?’ Lourens said yes. So he began to play, and I promise you, you could hear a pin drop. All of us just stood there speechless. It was one of those completely unplanned moments. That song ended up being the soundtrack of the ad and in the opening shot you see him playing.”

Actor, comedian and original #Soulfuencer, Tyson Ngubeni on ‘Soulfluencer’ shoot in America.

The result of the mammoth expedition didn’t go unnoticed. Back in December, the spot picked up recognition at our Monthly Craft Awards, judged by Juliet Honey, who said: “The small-town Americana cinematic language with its spacious, locked-off frames and beautifully observed character portraits heightens the awkward, out-of-place energy of the announcer. Every shot reinforces just how out of place he is. And that’s exactly the point.”

As if that work wasn’t big enough, the team didn’t stop there. To mark the conclusion of the ‘#SoulFood2TheWorld’ campaign and competition, Joe Public had another brief for director Lourens, this time just a big. After decades of the world supporting South Africa, it’s time to share our soul with the world – our moment to pay back the favour and flavour to the world. To do this, they wanted to create a cause anthem and music video. Something that unites South African artists in a celebration of the nation’s flavour, culture and spirit of generosity – authentically South African and unapologetically proud.

The team gathered some of the country’s most iconic musicians into the SABC Studios, placing them shoulder to shoulder behind microphones to perform an original anthem written, composed and produced by Adam Howard. Created specifically for the campaign, the ‘#SoulFood2TheWorld’ track celebrates South African culture while playfully honouring the tradition of those epic global cause anthems that once united generations.

Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, Judith Sephuma, A-Reece, Karen Zoid, Boity, PJ Powers, Zoë Modiga, Arno Carstens and Timothy Moloi all stood together in the warm golden-brown light of a brand that fries chicken for a living. Look, if you are going to parody every global ‘save the world’ song ever made, you have to commit to it fully, and that means actually creating a ‘save the world’ song.

Chicken Licken ‘Soulfluencer Music Video’

‘Soul Food to the World’ original anthem was awarded Best in Craft for Direction and a Craft Mention for Cinematography (both Lourens) including a Craft Mention for Original Music Craft awarded to Adam Howard in IDIDTHAT’s Craft Awards.

Lourens understood that balance instinctively. “Generally, when you’re working with musicians or celebrities on commercial shoots, you plan for them to be in and out fairly quickly; they don’t want to hang around, ” he explains. “So our whole game plan on the day was: start wide, move closer, get four good takes and we’re out.”

What happened instead surprised everyone. Lourens had planned the shoot assuming the artists would want to move quickly, but the opposite happened. When he called cut, they simply kept going, singing, laughing and interacting long after the cameras were meant to stop. “I realised our job was just to capture the energy,” he says. “We couldn’t have stopped them anyway.” The sincerity wasn’t something the team had to manufacture. It was already there in the room.

Of course, no parody anthem would be complete without spectacle, and so there was a choir on a hilltop filmed outside Worcester at 03:30 in the morning, a helicopter overhead and robes catching first light, not to mention fire-hose-as-divine-rain. But even those scenes hold because the tone never slips. The film walks a tightrope between satire and sincerity, and it really works because no one involved treats it lightly. If the artists appear to be in on the joke, the joke dies; if the film forgets that it is a joke, it collapses under its own weight. The absurdity reveals itself precisely because everyone is committed to it.

Again, Chicken Licken was awarded at IDIDTHAT’s Craft Awards in January for this work. Guest Judge Fran Luckin, Chief Creative Officer at VML South Africa, awarded Lourens Best in Craft for Direction and Cinematography, commenting, “There really couldn’t be a better time for this message from us to America and the director has played it out beautifully. How my dark little heart did cackle.”

T: 03:30 am call time to catch first light. Shooting a choir on a hill outside Worcester, essential for an anthem.
B: And hovering above that hill in a heli…Tyson Ngubeni, as one does.

When asked why Lourens was the right director for this campaign, Xolisa says, “Over and above his incredible cinematic abilities, Lourens is the kind of person who will always put his hand up if the project is a bit unorthodox,” he says. That willingness to lean into the unusual, whether it means conducting hundreds of interviews in the American South or orchestrating a room full of South African music royalty, is what ties the two films together. Joe Public ECD Martin Schlumpf adds, “With something like this, the worst thing you can do is over-direct it. Lourens got that straight away. He knew where to hold it and where to let it play, and that’s what makes it land.”

Behind all of this stand-out work for South Africa is a relationship that makes this level of ambition possible. Chicken Licken has built a reputation for consistently big, beautifully crafted work, and when we asked what underpins that, Xolisa didn’t hesitate. “Trust builds dedication. Trust builds ownership. Trust builds responsibility. When a client trusts you, you will do your absolute best work.” That trust, embodied on the client side by CEO and marketing lead Chantal Sombonos-Van Tonder, allows ideas to be shared before they are fully formed and scale to be pursued without immediately pulling back.

On location in South Africa, Lourens van Rensburg and the crew that helped save the world. You’re welcome, America.

The ‘Soul Food® To The World’ campaign extended further than the two films, spanning social, OOH, radio, POS, a microsite, a WhatsApp competition platform, and multiple delivery partners, amounting to dozens of assets. But at its heart, it remains anchored in a single idea: the world is in need of soul, and South Africa has plenty to share.

What Lourens and the Joe Public team have created is work that feels unapologetically local yet confident enough to travel. It doesn’t try to imitate global advertising language; it leans harder into what makes South African culture distinct. And perhaps that is why it has already begun collecting awards and why it feels as though it is only getting started. Another proud moment for South African creativity. ‘Buy a donkey’ team!

Wanna (s)talk some more? 7 Film’s IDIDTHAT profile and company website.