Until this morning, I honestly had no idea that Colonel Sanders didn’t create the now globally ubiquitous KFC brand until he was 65 years old. That’s pretty bloody inspiring if you ask me. My dad’s 63 and his idea of a colossal achievement is beating level 99 on Candy Crush Saga. I also discovered that the colonel worked as a US Army mule-tender in Cuba, a ferryboat entrepreneur, an amateur obstetrician, and even an unsuccessful politician (I’d have voted for him). He also supposedly had a wicked sense of humour, so he might have actually appreciated it the joke when he was ‘resurrected’ for the fast food chains 75th anniversary earlier this year, in a series of lightly comedic spots where he was portrayed by Saturday Night Live (a US institution I won’t even begin to touch upon here) veteran Darrell Hammond.
KFC appear to be doubling down on the quirky comedy route by replacing Darrell Hammond with fellow SNL vet Norm Macdonald as Colonel Sanders
Now KFC appear to be doubling down on the quirky comedy route by replacing Hammond with fellow SNL vet Norm Macdonald, who British viewers might recognise as the voice of Death on Family Guy (yes really). It’s a strange, somewhat polarizing, and yet actually rather bold and surprisingly self-aware campaign that lends a touch of warmth to the brand, whilst also poking fun at its past.
The obvious joke, which is really run home in the first new spot of four from Wieden + Kennedy, is that Hammond is an imposter, and Macdonald is the ‘real’ Colonel Sanders. The real gag, however, is that Macdonald looks nothing like Colonel Sanders. In fact, he looks even less like the colonel than his predecessor. But this is an irony not lost on KFC according to KFC chief marketing officer Kevin Hochman, who said: “Other than not quite looking like him, his voice being different, and his inability to cook the world’s best chicken, we thought Norm was the perfect choice to play the Real Colonel, and I think the fans will agree.” Another spot sees the real colonel complaining about his imposter, and isn’t quite as clever as the first spot (it’s basically another riff on the same joke), but it’s certainly a hoot to see the colonel in his old fashioned underwear! The final two spots exist simply to push the new KFC Family Fill Up bucket, and see the colonel admitting his love for breakdancing and lamenting his busy life.
The obvious joke, which is really run home in the first new spot of four from Wieden + Kennedy, is that Hammond is an imposter, and Macdonald is the ‘real’ Colonel Sanders
Hoch continued: “For the first ads, we rebooted things that made Kentucky Fried Chicken the most favourite chicken brand in the world. We brought back the Colonel’s iconic office, his white stretch limo, and the children’s mandolin band he outfitted with instruments and white Colonel Suits to create authentic Kentucky bluegrass music. And the new set of ads are more of that same homage to the things that made Kentucky Fried Chicken such an important part of American families.”
Macdonald (or should we say Mr Sanders) was honoured to don the famous white suit. He added: “I was blown away when I learned that Colonel Sanders didn’t even start KFC until he was 65 (so it wasn’t just me then). That’s a whole lot of legend to fit into a couple decades, and it takes a strong work ethic, the kind you don’t see every day, to do it like he did. He never gave up, never accepted less than the best and never held back an opinion. Plus he looks great in white." And so do you Norm. And so do you.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer, struggling musician and lifelong KFC fan (always choose the colonel over the clown) from Kidderminster in the UK.
