KFC expands $10 bucket deal across weekdays

The brand is positioning the bucket deals as a value-oriented solution for weekday dinners, which could help it drive traffic.

KFC is expanding its $10 Tuesday promotion, which gives consumers an eight-piece drum and thigh bucket for the stated price point, across all five weeknights, according to a Monday press release. The brand will offer several $10 buckets throughout the week to give consumers variety.

Mondays and Fridays, the $10 deal applies to a 24-piece nugget bucket with four sauces; the Tuesday offering is not changing; the Wednesday bucket comes with 10 wings and two sauces; and the Thursday deal serves eight tenders and two sauces.

Consumers can make the buckets into a meal by adding two individual sides and biscuits for $5, or two large sides and four biscuits for $10, according to promotional imagery for the buckets.

KFC did not immediately respond to a request to clarify the duration of the promotion, but the release states that the deal offers “value worth jumping on while it lasts.”

Alongside the value promotion, KFC launched Honey Chili Crisp and Jalapeño Ranch sauces. KFC is using its Saucy spinoff concept as a source of flavor innovation and proving ground for new menu items, as Yum CEO Chris Turner described on the company’s most recent earnings call.

The bucket deal could help KFC strengthen its U.S. dinner daypart. Melissa Cash, the brand’s chief marketing officer for the U.S., said the deal was positioned to help consumers decide what’s for dinner.

“We took what our fans love about $10 Tuesday and expanded it into something bigger — a weekday experience with more options at the same $10 price — so you can switch things up without spending more,” Cash said.

The chain also added a Boneless Bucket for One promotion, which includes three tenders, five nuggets, fries and a medium drink, though the price point varies by location, according to the press release.

KFC has sought to leverage value promotions as traffic drivers as part of its ongoing U.S. turnaround efforts, including recent plays like its $20 Build-a-Bucket promotion, which ran starting in late February. It also added three value meals, called the Value Feast Boxes, in late March at price points of $7, $9 and $11.