History UsefulNotes / KentuckyFriedChicken

Even following his death, the image of Colonel Sanders has been [[TheDeadRiseToAdvertise featured in promotions for the company.]] In 2015, the company launched a campaign featuring several celebrities as the Colonel including Creator/NormMacdonald, Creator/JimGaffigan and even ''Music/RebaMcEntire'' ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes, we're serious]]). Creator/GeorgeHamilton also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLrSkZPzQIs took on the role]] of the Colonel to promote extra-crispy chicken. In 2018, they sponsored an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOwdpYEi_oc episode]] of ''Series/DrunkHistory'' about the Colonel.

It seemed for a while that that would be that. However, in the 1950s the federal government drew up plans to build the Interstate Highway System, and wouldn't you know it -- the new Interstate 75, to be the main north-south route through eastern Kentucky, bypassed Sanders Cafe completely passing along a route just over a mile away, diverting the Colonel's business. At this point, the Colonel was 65, but because of the ups and downs of his career, he realized he couldn't simply retire. It was because of this that the Colonel decided to franchise his chicken recipe. The Kentucky Fried Chicken brand was born when Sanders granted his first franchise to a restaurant run by a friend of his in...[[{{Subversion}} Utah]]. The chain quickly spread and achieved massive popularity, to the point that Sanders was overwhelmed by his business, and sold the company to investors in 1964, who in turn sold it to alcohol manufacturer Heublein in 1971. Rapid marketing began. All the while the new KFC owners continued to use Sanders as the company mascot. He even appeared twice on the popular panel show ''Series/WhatsMyLine'', first as a regular guest when his image was not yet famous and then again as a Mystery Guest with the panel blindfolded when his image became well-known.

In September 2019, KFC released a licensed game on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} for free; a DatingSim titled ''[[VisualNovel/ILoveYouColonelSanders I Love You, Colonel Sanders!]]'' Then in 2020, they made a romantic ShortFilm called ''Film/ARecipeForSeduction''. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer No, we're not kidding.]] They even released ranges of nail polish and eau de toilette (which smelled like fried chicken, natch).

Their logo bears the face of a bearded man in a tie. This is the company's founder, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Sanders "Colonel" Harland Sanders]] (1890-1980). A native of Henryville, Indiana (a farm town near Louisville, Kentucky), Sanders bounced around the country for much of his youth, spending time in places as diverse as Indianapolis, Alabama, and even Cuba before finding himself back in Louisville. He found his business there didn't match his skill set, so he went further east in Kentucky, at first working for the French tire company Michelin, and then when Michelin closed its American operations, he opened a Shell gas station in Corbin, Kentucky.

It seemed for a while that that would be that. However, in the 1950s the federal government drew up plans to build the Interstate Highway System, and wouldn't you know it -- the new Interstate 75, to be the main north-south route through eastern Kentucky, bypassed Sanders Cafe completely passing along a route just over a mile away, diverting the Colonel's business. At this point, the Colonel was 65, but because of the ups and downs of his career, he realized he couldn't simply retire. It was because of this that the Colonel granted a franchise to the first KFC in [[{{Subversion}} Utah]], to massive popularity. Eventually, he was overwhelmed by his business, and sold the company to investors, although they continued to use his picture as a logo. Rapid marketing began. Sanders appeared twice on the popular panel show ''Series/WhatsMyLine'', first as a regular guest when his image was not yet famous and then again as a Mystery Guest with the panel blindfolded when his image became well-known.

Throughout the 1970s and '80s, KFC had a moderate success, though the various business owners it was passed onto had little knowledge of how to run it properly. Sanders sold KFC to investors in 1964, who sold it to alcohol manufacturer Heublein in 1971. In 1968, Sanders' protege Dave Thomas left the company and founded [[StartMyOwn his own fast food chain]], Wendy's, the next year.[[note]]Thomas was who originally suggested Sanders appear in KFC advertising and commercials. He would follow his own advice at his new company, and ultimately appeared in more than 800 Wendy's commercials before his death, becoming a pop culture icon that rivaled Sanders.[[/note]]

After he sold the company, Sanders stayed on as its mascot and spokesman until his death in 1980 and remains the company's logo. Even in his advanced age, he drove himself upwards of 250,000 miles a year in his own car visiting individual restaurants and promoting the chain. He also had exclusive authority to shut down franchisees whose service or quality of food was below his standards. Sanders was [[CreatorBacklash extremely critical]] of what he believed to be a lowering in the quality of the food under Heublein's ownership and in particular the gravy; He said his original gravy was even better than his chicken, but it had been reduced to what he called "pure wallpaper paste." One executive said [[AwesomeButImpractical “The Colonel’s gravy was fantastic but you had to be a Rhodes Scholar to cook it.”]] A franchisee unsuccessfully tried to sue Sanders for these comments. Heublein itself sued Sanders in 1975 after he and his wife opened another, considerably more upscale, restaurant in Shelbyville, Kentucky called The Colonel's Lady where he also sold his fried chicken. Sanders countersued Heublein for using his image on products he did not create, including an unsuccessful and disastrous attempt at selling barbeque spare ribs. The company and Sanders ultimately settled out of court, and Sanders changed the name of his new restaurant to the Claudia Sanders Dinner House. Barring a fire that burned down the original restaurant in 1999, the dining house is still in operation today and is currently the only non-KFC franchise restaurant authorized to sell Sanders' original recipe fried chicken - and possibly the only one at all to still use Sanders' ''original'' recipe.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (or KFC) is America's largest fried chicken restaurant chain.

It should be noted that KFC has a major international presence, and [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff is especially popular in Japan]] (especially around UsefulNotes/{{Christmas|InJapan}}, because of an advertising campaign of all things), to the point that a few anime make reference to Colonel Sanders, usually due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Colonel The Curse of the Colonel]], a notorious Japanese sports curse triggered when rowdy fans stole a statue of the Colonel from a restaurant and threw it into a canal. Also, the following quote is probably worth mentioning here: