"colonelsanders" news and stories

Do you have what it takes to be the next Colonel Sanders?

KFC is searching for a new face for its Kentucky Grilled Chicken (KGC) food line. The fast-food chain is calling for video submissions on its MySpace page through July 7, 2009, in an "Ultimate KGC Fan" contest.

The chicken chain wants entrants to make submissions saying why they should be the new face of the grilled chicken product, which was unveiled in April.

At stake is a lifetime supply of Kentucky Grilled Chicken, which company officials value at $13,000. Semifinalists will be selected on July 25 and the public will have the chance to weigh in on Aug. 1.

The contest comes after KFC came under fire for a botched free Kentucky Grilled Chicken giveaway. Stores ran out of the chicken and diners had to settle for a rain check in May after Oprah Winfrey gave away coupons for a free sample of the new grilled chicken.

But company officials said it was still a win. "The critical thing for us was to get people to eat the chicken, whatever it took," KFC President Roger Eaton told the Associated Press.

Until a fast-food restaurant places ads on the moon, the publicity stunt that KFC used to unveil its new logo earlier this week gets my vote for most bizarre. The chicken purveyor placed a gargantuan logo in the Nevada desert, making it the first brand visible from outer space. The outsized ad measures 87,000 square feet, a whopping six-and-a-half times bigger than the dome of the Taj Mahal.

The new logo is part of a rebranding effort that includes using the name Kentucky Fried Chicken along with reintroducing the slogans "Finger Lickin' Good" and "11 Secret Herbs and Spices." Forgive me while I indulge in some greasy childhood nostalgia as I ponder those slogans. The new logo sports bolder colors and a more defined graphic of the chain's late founder Colonel Harland Sanders. In addition to the crisper likeness, the good colonel has shed his white suit in favor of a red apron.

It's great that KFC is getting back to its roots and letting folks know that the colonel was a real person, but did they really need to build what amounts to a corporate version of the eighth wonder of the world? Gregg Dedrick, president of KFC Corp. had this to say: "If there are extraterrestrials in outer space, KFC wants to become their restaurant of choice. For now, we'll be very content satisfying the entire human population ... Besides, who knows if extraterrestrials even have fingers?" Umm, OK then.

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