In an event that blended culinary delight with aerospace innovation, a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Zinger sandwich boldly went where no burger has gone before—into the stratosphere. The promotional stunt, which took place in 2017, involved KFC partnering with World View Enterprises, a company specializing in high-altitude balloons. The mission was not just a unique marketing ploy but also a test of World View’s stratollites, balloon-powered craft designed to carry technology payloads into the stratosphere for extended periods.
The KFC Zinger sandwich, a spicy, crispy chicken burger, was housed inside a specially designed "spacecraft" which was more of a lightweight container with a high-altitude balloon attached. The unconventional flight was called “Zinger 1 Mission” and sought to push the boundaries of promotional campaigns while testing the endurance of stratollite technology in near-space conditions. The balloon ascended to about 28,000 meters (approximately 17 miles) above Earth's surface, providing the sandwich and its payload with a spectacular view of our planet.
This stratollitic voyage lasted for four days, marking a significant achievement in terms of the duration for which such lightweight crafts can be maintained in near-space environments. The mission’s dual purpose was well served as KFC garnered substantial media coverage, captivating audiences worldwide with the surreal image of a fast-food sandwich floating above Earth. Simultaneously, valuable data was collected on the stratollite's systems' long-duration capabilities and performance in the upper atmosphere, which are crucial for future applications ranging from weather forecasting to security surveillance.
After its high-altitude journey, the Zinger sandwich safely returned to Earth, parachuting back without incident. This quirky space mission left a lasting impression not only for its uniqueness but also for how it showed that brand promotions could intersect creatively with technology experimentation, offering a glimpse into the potential future applications of stratospheric travel and sustained payload deployment. The Zinger 1 Mission stands as a testament to the innovative ways firms are reaching out to new heights—quite literally—to capture public imagination and venture into uncharted territories.
