KFC has hired Golden Globe Award-winning actor George Hamilton to play Colonel Sanders in their new TV ads for Extra Crispy Chicken in the US.
He's the fourth Colonel since the character was revived in marketing last year; the first two were Darrell Hammond and Norm MacDonald.
According to press releases, Jim Gaffigan, the current Colonel, will continue playing the role in Original Recipe chicken ads.
So basically it looks as if they're planning on having different Colonels for different types of chicken. What a time to be alive.
The problem with Crispy Colonel is he looks a bit like someone who will wear tight white pants and bother you when you're on holidays. Someone who smells strongly of Brut cologne and will say outrageously sexist things, then tell you you're "up tight" when you call him out on it.
Or as this gentleman so eloquently put it:
To further our enjoyment of the whole situation, the KFC marketing people gave this statement, explaining why they selected Hamilton for the role:
"Extra Crispy Chicken is fried to a golden brown. George Hamilton isn't fried to a golden brown, but he is tanned to a golden brown," KFC CMO Kevin Hochman told Business Insider.
** We'll give you a moment to allow that thought-provoking statement to sink in. **
This "golden brown" element is causing a whole new raft of problems.
Some people found the new Colonel's unveiling during the BET Awards (awards to celebrate African-Americans and other minorities in entertainment) a little "distasteful":
The bottom line is, in our humble opinion, maybe it's time KFC distanced themselves from the Colonel, as Macca's did with Ronald.