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Early Addition
KFC probably never thought the day would come when they would miss the "hip" cartoon Colonel Sanders (who rapped!), but now that they had to pull their ads touting the relative "health benefits" of eating fried chicken, you'd have to wonder how their ad agency managed to sell that concept to them (a case of either a very slick ad person or a very stupid client). The Center for Science in Public Interest sent the FTC a letter condemning the ads ("The ad then states that a skinless chicken breast has 'only 3 grams of fat.' This may be accurate, it is rather disingenuous considering how few people eat KFC's fried chicken without its breading and skin."), causing the FTC to launch an investigation and KFC to pull the ads. Now, there is a lot of crappy advertising out there, and most people would recognize this as hucksterism, but let's face it, a number of people are also stupid and this is reckless (at least when Jason Alexander was the pitchman, you could think, "Hey, if I eat fried chicken, I'll be Costanza-y"). However, this bizarre logic of fried chicken as healthier eating would pay off with Homer Simpson, per his diet.
You can also watch the commercials at AdAge.
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Instead of a slick ad agent and a stupid client, I think KFC is slick enough to think that the general public is stupid enough to think KFC is healthy.
speaking of homer, kfc should have a new campaign where they rub the chicken on the wall to see if it becomes clear. that way, if people want to go on disability, they know to eat kfc. it can be the anti-subway campaign. this will be a marketing coup!!
The only bad thing about this is one of those commercials starred the "Oh face" guy from Office Space and I like seeing him on TV.
cal, I'd almost agree wtih you but in this case, I really think they are stretching the health claims. I have a high tolerance for BS and these are seriously out of control. If KFC believes even bad publicity is good publicity, that's the bright side for them.
The photo of Colonel Sanders doing the Cabbage Patch is the most disturbing image you've ever posted on this site. And that includes the MJ mugshot from the previous post.
Something that I noticed recently that pisses me off is these little boxes of Kellogg's Smart Start cereal, which I like. On the outside, it advertises "100% daily value of 10 vitamins and minerals". Well, turns out that it's 100% daily value for a serving, which is 50g. To my suprise, the box doesn't contain one serving! It has 43g, so in fact the labeling on the outside seems to be sort of slimey to me, because they can arbitrarily resize the serving size until it gets to something that looks good, and then give you less than what's advertised. I'm eating KFC for breakfast from now on.
The body of Harlan Sanders probably danced around in its coffin when KFC rolled out those hip-hop commercials featuring "The Colonel". But you know the old saying: "He who lives by the niche-marketing, hip-gyrates by the niche marketing."
Trivia: As a young man Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, was Harlan Sanders' protege. (Hopefully we'll be spared a hip-hop Dave.)
"...it is rather disingenuous considering how few people eat KFC's fried chicken without its breading and skin."
Change that to "breading, skin, and veins." Ever get a good look at that skin? It's all THICK, BLUE AND GREEN VEINS!
No doubt that they're stretching those claims. However, like so many other companies out there, they won't stop until they're told to do so. By then, not all the people who fell for the commercials in the first place would be set straight b/c the lawsuit will be published on some random corner in a newspaper. And for the all the people dumb enough to think that fried chicken is healthy, they were going to eat it anyway but they just want a rappin' cartoon to reinforce it.
jkottke - I'm getting a sense of your tolerance levels. You like this, but you don't like the dancin'-n-rapin' Colonel. Got it.
Obviously, KFC shouldn't have gotten away with this outright chicanery. At the same time, how much of this whole thing is really just KFC telling people what they want to hear so they can feel justified for eating chicken since they feel like eating it?
Do I look fat in this? Of course not honey.
Is it true that this delicious frozen yogurt is non-fat? Of course, eat up.
Etc.
Uh, the "colonel" did the cabbage patch (in all his animated glory) at LEAST 4 years ago. He also had the background singers chanting "Go colonel! Go colonel!"
How is this news now?
Uh, the "colonel" did the cabbage patch (in all his animated glory) at LEAST 4 years ago. He also had the background singers chanting "Go colonel! Go colonel!"
How is this news now?
If you read the post, you'd see that the Colonel's cabbage patch was merely a reference in the storied advertising past of KFC. The post is about their most recent commercials. But at this point, I suppose people reading the post is too much to hope for.
Anyone who BELIEVES claims made in advertisements is just as gullible as those who believe anything that the CSPI publishes. They are opposite sides of the same biased coin. The 'answer', if it exists, will be reached by using facts (that are verifiable) and reason. Because reason is always subjective (Just what is important to YOU?) we make our own choices. Just don't expect anyone else to agree just because it is written down.