People hate the new Colonel Sanders in the KFC Commercials. But, KFC is lovin' it.
There's a new Colonel Sanders in town. Darrell Hammond is playing the KFC leader in a new series of commercials full of Southern charm. The whole thing is the latest in a long line of Sanders clones that have hit the advertising world in an effort to push KFC chicken. The difference this time is that people seem to hate the guy.
According to Food Business News, around one in five people are not fans of the chicken chain's new mascot, Greg Creed, CEO of KFC parent company Yum! Brands, admitted during a conference in New York this week.
According to USA Today, Former KY Governor John Y. Brown Jr. isn't a big fan of the new Col. Sanders and thinks the real man wouldn't be a big fan either:
“I don't think you make a gimmick out of somebody,” Brown said in a phone interview from his home in Lexington. “I think they are making fun of the Colonel. It is such a fascinating story, I hate to see them tarnish it.”
USA Today notes that Brown purchased the “secret” recipe back in 1964, opening thousands of stores before selling the company in 1971. B
Like many other fast-food brands, KFC is struggling to stay relevant to a new generation of picky eaters that increasingly prefers Chipotle and Panera.
“We had lost relevance in the U.S. Sixty percent of millennials had not eaten KFC,” Creed said at the conference. “I think the upside in the U.S. in making ourselves relevant again from a profit point of view is enormous.”
At the end of this an this is an example of any publicity is still good publicity.
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