I once had the decidedly mixed adventure of visiting family in the deep south where I quickly became acquainted with large trucks with humongous American flags and confederate license plates; racist billboards and bumper stickers extolling the virtues of no less than George W. Bush himself; grocery stores that refused to sell alcohol on Sundays; and fried chicken everywhere. Using my powers of observation, I was able to determine that in the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia, Colonel Sanders is still a king.
As a recent article in TIME magazine reports, the south may be the only place where Colonel Sanders is the man. As many as 60% of Americans don’t even know that Colonel Sanders was a real person. Aren’t Americans today getting educated? Shouldn’t we all know about the cultural icon who helped make picnic lunches across America possible? Where are our tax dollars going to if not to dead and buried cultural icons like Colonel Sanders.
Colonel Sander’s life story is amazing and is a true testament to what all Americans are taught at school- America is the land of milk-and-honey, hamburgers, and french fries, and is a place where anybody can make their dreams come true with a little bit of gumption and lot a bit of luck. The Colonel did time as an attorney and even assaulted a client and was reportedly fired from numerous jobs. As is the case with many great artists, Colonel Sanders’ work wasn’t truthfully appreciated enough until after his death.
The Time magazine writer, who is lucky enough to be writing a book devoted to Colonel Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken, observed that after Colonel Sanders’ died, the company went through some re-branding (ie. changing their name to KFC) and that’s when they began to get quite creative with his image. The following video is a perfect example of where creative advertising geniuses may have taken the poor man’s likeness too far.
Does Colonel Sanders really have to be associated with Pokeman? Of course, I doubt that some of their unusual menu items including the KFC Double Down would have pleased the Colonel either, but then again, who am I to speak for the deceased? (For a brilliant review of what just may be the world’s unhealthiest new concoction, check this LINK).