Guaitil is an indigenous community that joined the Costa Rican territory 197 years ago. This community has been seriously affected economically by the closing of the borders due to the pandemic, because tourists stopped visiting the community and their only income are the sales of their ancestral handicrafts with more than 5000 years of history.

Just like the indigenous community of Guaitil, during the pandemic KFC Costa Rica was also affected in its sales. People preferred to support local businesses, so how KFC a international brand, can connect emotionally with the Costa Rican public and keep us on their top of mind?

Through design we rescued an endangered 5000-year-old art, emotionally connecting with Costa Rica culture. Guatil community makes handicrafts for living. With that in mind, we turned our iconic bucket into a unique in the world art pieces. Thanks to Guaitil's history, techniques and materials, today KFC is part of Costa Rican culture in a way that is perfectly suited to its idiosyncrasies.

To celebrate the anniversary of their annexation to Costa Rica and to help them in the midst of the COVID pandemic, we at KFC made a very special order to the community of Guaitil: The Annexation Buckets. A special edition of 45 unique buckets, made with the millenary techniques of the indigenous people of the region. Hand-crafted, sand-based iguana, baked in clay ovens and dried in the sun for 48 hours, then decorated by different native artisans.

This one and only collection in the world was made available to everyone through an auction that took place on our digital channels, raising money that was donated to the artisans and their community to help with the shortage caused by the pandemic.

During the auction, we achieved 5 comments per second and one of The Annexation Buckets became the most valued handicraft in the history of Guaitil. With the campaign now the Guaitil community is known in more than 25 countries and reached more than 4 million people who now knows the community and can help reactivate their economy.