After a 21-year hiatus, KFC is bringing Colonel Sanders, its founder and brand mascot, back to its advertising to celebrate 75 years since the fast-food chain's secret fried chicken recipe was created.
"The Colonel" returns to TV ads next week with a new voice and face: that of actor, comedian, and former "Saturday Night Live" regular Darrell Hammond. "KFC is paying me in chicken," Hammond says in a press release.
The refresh doesn't end there. KFC is also rolling out a new, fancier restaurant design. The new designs had been tested in locations in Las Vegas and Louisville, Kentucky, but stores nationwide will be getting a refresh in the coming months.
Here's the kind of design the stores will be getting on the outside:
And here's a sample of the new interior:
And as with any fast-food marketing campaign, some new items are being added to the menu.
Kentucky baked beans with slow pulled chicken:
Finger Lickin' Good Sauce
And Dole Classic Lemonade, served medium, large, and by the half gallon.
Colonel Harland Sanders had a colorful life. As KFC tells it in a press release, he was a farmhand, Army mule-tender, locomotive fireman, trainee lawyer, insurance salesman, amateur obstetrician, ferryboat entrepreneur, and political candidate. He was a 65-year-old chicken salesman when he created his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.
Here's the real Colonel Sanders with a bucket of KFC:
And this is Hammond as Colonel Sanders. Uncanny.
The TV campaign starring Hammond, created by Wieden+Kennedy, has three separate ads.
This spot is called "Bucket In My Hand"
And this is The Colonel's "mandolin band."
In addition, KFC has also created a microsite where you can play an 8-bit Atari-style game called "Colonel Quest."
Unlike some other struggling fast-food chains, such as McDonald's, KFC is performing well. In the US, KFC grew same-store sales by 7% year-on-year in the quarter that ended March 21.
So while most marketing refreshes come at a time when companies are attempting to revive their businesses or move in a new direction, this effort genuinely seems like a celebration of KFC's heritage.
KFC US chief marketing officer Kevin Hochman said in a press release: "Colonel Harland Sanders’ iconic legacy and world-famous Original Recipe chicken are what set Kentucky Fried Chicken apart from the rest. His entrepreneurial spark and unrelenting appreciation for hard work, philanthropy, and showmanship (or what he called "a little Colonel-ing") are exemplary of the 'American Dream' ... The Colonel has always been at the core of everything we do here at Kentucky Fried Chicken. The 75th anniversary is the perfect time to give him back to the people and remind everyone of what we're all about."
