Posted on 01/26/2018 6:07:24 AM PST by EdnaMode
In commercials starting next week, the country star dons the Colonel's famous white suit and black tie.
The next Colonel Sanders is giving the character a little bit of "country music flair." KFC has picked singer Reba McEntire to play the founder of the fried chicken chain, the first female celebrity in the role.
In commercials starting next week, McEntire dons the Colonel's famous white suit and black tie, but with a twist.
McEntire's outfit has fringe on the back, and a glittery shine, giving the getup "a little bit of the country music flair," she told the Associated Press in an interview. McEntire sings onstage as the Colonel, with a white wig and white facial hair.
"I thought the transformation was really funny," said the singer, who will appear in the ads until the end of April. "I got a big kick out of it."
A rotating cast of famous names have portrayed the Colonel since 2015, but McEntire is the first famous female to do it, and the first musician. She may also be the first woman in KFC's nearly 90-year-history to depict the Colonel. The company said the "best historical minds at KFC" could not remember a woman having stepped into the role.
McEntire was approached about doing so in December. "I said, 'Holy smokes!,'" she told the Associated Press. "KFC has been a part of my life forever."
KFC said it picked McEntire because of her Southern roots, and to help promote its new Smoky Mountain BBQ, which combines fried chicken with a taste of barbeque. McEntire said she has eaten at KFC all her life, since her days growing up in Oklahoma.
She sings in the ad, in a tongue-in-cheek approach: "I'm Colonel Sanders, the same as always," McEntire croons. "I'm definitely not a woman." McEntire also appears as herself in the commercial, as an audience member.
Col. Harland Sanders, who died in 1980, first started selling fried chicken from a single restaurant in 1930. KFC, now owned by Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum Brands Inc., resurrected the Colonel for its ads in 2015 after a nearly 20-year absence, hiring Rob Lowe, Ray Liotta and other famous men for the role.
The ad was overseen by KFC's new chief marketing officer, Andrea Zahumensky, who is trying to continue a turnaround of the brand. "I think this is going to be our most-loved Colonel yet," she said.
Love Reba but I don’t think she’ll be able to save KFC - their commercials suck as bad as the old Burger King ones did before they realized they were killing their business and needed to get more conventional...
Trump should get the role in 2025
Oh, PUHLEEZE!
Who is supposed to remotely believe a female Col. Sanders? This should go over about as well as “New Coke” did in the mid-’80s. I like Reba, but this is among the dumbest marketing ideas that I’ve ever heard of.
Just make good food for a good price, and you’ll do fine. Focus on your competitions’ weaknesses, and get rid of your own.
I remember Colonel Sanders , he always made it sound Finger Lickin Good
Here in my locale it's quite good... at all locations... in all parts of town.
I’m waiting for the first non binary Col. Sanders
Chic fala is so much better.
Is nothing sacred? Geez!
What’s next?? A white Aunt Jemima? A male Aunt Jemima? A white Uncle Ben? A female Uncle Ben?
I saw George Hamilton in person in Denver where at the time (decades ago) I believe he was hawking fur coats at a department store. He was quite the looker. I see no mention of him selling those coats anywhere, but I do remember he had a cigar shop in the NY NY casino in Vegas as well. It’s been gone for quite some time.
KFC needs to hire Norm Macdonald back permanently. He reminds me of the old goofy adds about everyone trying to steal the Colonel’s secret recipe. Norm’s Colonel look and humor are the perfect fit to the original Colonel. Pay big for him!
Give Bernie Sanders a chance at it.
You are quite correct as to the service being controlled by the franchisee.
There are several KFC’s in my area, one of which I have been to twice and will never darken their door again. Undercooked, underseasoned, unsorted, short counted both times. Slow, surly, distracted, unpleasant are the nice things I can say about the product and staff there. Of course, it’s the one closest to my home.
Then there is the KFC enroute to work. Properly seasoned and cooked, with the proper number and types of pieces in every order. Pleasant, friendly, enthusiastic staff. Pity the seasoning has changed since I was younger, though.
Reba as a pretend Colonel? Sure, why not? It should be good for a snicker. It might help with sales.
I read where a Marketing guy said that that was one of the most brilliant selling slogans ever devised. He said that KFC was selling a greasy food and brainstormed how to make it sound palatable, and some genius coined that phrase.
I read where he’d buy homes, live in the m with his mother, then resell at a premium b/c a “star” lived in it.
He also had a restaurant at one time.
“they have to get Christopher Walken as a colonel”
I bet after you wrote that you imagined Walken doing the commercial and started to laugh. I know I started thinking about Walken as the Colonel and I am still laughing.
If nothing else, that would make for a great SNL skit.
Why not Samuel L Jackson as the Colonel?
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