KFC has trotted out plenty of iterations of Colonel Sanders, from the real Harlan Sanders, who died in 1980 but continued to show up in ads, to celebrities playing the icon, including Jim Gaffigan, Mario Lopez and Reba McIntire.
But in Canada, the Colonel is a rare sighting, so the fact that the brand is bringing out an angry version of the famed Southern gentleman north of the border in a new campaign from agency of record, Courage, is a fairly big deal.
The Colonel is the point of focus of a new campaign, “Kitchen Rant,” which finds Sanders in a kitchen reading an order—two pieces of juicy, seasoned Original Recipe dark meat chicken or tenders for only $2.99 every Tuesday. That sends him into a tirade, since the chicken that’s beloved around the world, his life’s work, is being sold for mere pennies.
“How freakin’ dare they?” says the Colonel, throwing in an expletive along the way.
The new ad from Courage, directed by Zach Math, is promoting the “Twosdays” deal, which looks to please everyone, except the Colonel.
“We wanted to give KFC fans something to truly celebrate—an unbeatable deal on a day of the week that has become synonymous with our brand,” said Katherine Bond-Debicki, CMO, KFC Canada in a statement. “As the original Kentucky Fried Chicken chef, he knows more than anyone the craft and quality that go into every Finger Lickin’ Good bite. But we’re committed to giving Canadians rituals they can look forward to at a value that can’t be beat.”
The Colonel isn’t going down quietly. Beyond the main ad, fans will witness the cantankerous icon sound off against Twosdays through OOH, TV and OLV, and across KFC Canada’s social channels, in-store at restaurants across Canada.
There is also a rant ad, signed by the Colonel, scheduled to run in publications across the country.
“Colonel Sanders was incredibly passionate about his food and the customers. When we started to dig more into who he was we found a wonderful creative lens to bring this offer to life. We really wanted his passion for his world-famous chicken to come through and we feel it does in spades,” said Joel Holtby, co-founder and co-CCO at Courage.
The deal is available exclusively in KFC restaurants in Canada and KFC Order Ahead and Pick-Up, but not through the app.
