KFC Created a 'Virtual Influencer' Colonel Sanders, Mocking Marketing's Newest Odd Trend

He's hot. He's cool. He's living his best artificial life

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Influencers can be problematic. Sure, they have big audiences and know how to rock a plandid on Instagram, but they also have a habit of saying and doing pretty dumb things that give their sponsors constant anxiety.

Hey, they’re only human. But what if they weren’t?

Virtual influencers are one of the odder ways companies are thinking about brand safety. These artificially generated personalities have the clout of flesh-and-blood social media stars, without all that pesky human unpredictability (ignoring, of course, the fact that virtual influencer accounts are also run by humans).

Now KFC and agency Wieden + Kennedy are getting in on the virtual influencer action, but they didn’t throw their money at emerging

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