Blog
Meet Extra Crispy Colonel - KFC's answer to a product awareness problem
June 24, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group
Kentucky Fried Chicken has a problem. According to its marketing research, half of Americans were unaware that it sells anything except its moister-crusted Original recipe fried chicken. That presented a challenge that the Yum! Brand has managed to answer in a truly hilarious fashion. It has tapped the ultra-tanned George Hamilton as its new "Extra Crispy Colonel," the torchbearer for the brand's super crunchy crusted variety, which has been offered since 1972.
The double-breaded, open-fried variation on the Harland Sanders' original recipe was a big hit when it was introduced decades ago, but it lost its renown over the years. Hamilton's presence in the old colonel's role is meant to resolve that problem for the chain in the new campaign created by Wieden+Kennedy.
The four spots in this campaign air nationally and feature the "extra-crispy" skinned actor to connect the product in question and the idea of summer picnic food all in one 15-to-30-second package.
Although the colonel himself passed away in 1980, the chain has been revolving different personalities through that white-suited role since the spring of 2015. Darrell Hammond was the first to fill the colonel's shoes, followed by Norm Macdonald, Jim Gaffigan and now George Hamilton.
About S.A. Whitehead
Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.
