10 Surprising Things About KFC and Colonel Sanders

The Colonel's personal life wasn't as white as his suit.

KFCPhoto bySpencer Scott PughonUnsplash

When I was growing up, my dad loved KFC. I’m actually fairly fond of it myself, but what I’m not that thrilled with is the various ways Harland Sanders has been portrayed in the company’s ads in recent years. I’ve seen at least 13 people portray the Colonel over the years. None of them blew me away, but a few seemed especially poorly suited to portray the Colonel.

My least favorites include George Hamilton, Reba McEntire, and Mario Lopez. As for Lopez, somebody missed an opportunity for a great food promo. Mario should have had a series of ads for Taco Bell with the theme, ‘Saved by the Taco Bell.”

While Reba McEntire has a likable Okie quality about her, playing the Colonel is a real stretch. Those of us who have seen her series, "Reba” for a few minutes realize playing Reba is pretty much the apex of her acting ability.

As for George Hamilton, he seems nice and I was glad to see he had landed a gig, he’s no Colonel. Corporal at best.

With that out of the way, here are some things you might not have known about the Colonel and his chicken.

1: There are some KFC restaurants in China, but there was a glitch.

The franchise's famous slogan, “finger lickin good,” came out” eat your fingers off” in Chinese. Man, that’s some good chicken. I understand they got that fixed.

2: A traditionally Japanese Christmas Dinner? A bucket of KFC chicken.

How did that happen? It’s the result of a 1974 ad campaign that went something like, “Kentucky for Christmas.” It has eclipsed, “San Francisco for Christmas” which is a bowl of Rice-A -Roni.

3: KFC’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices is still a secret.

Initially, the Colonel kept the recipe in his head before writing it down on a piece of paper and putting it in his wallet. The piece of paper also contained the location of Jimmy Hoffa’s body and the real killers of JFK.

4: Harland Sanders was given the honorary title of Colonel in 1936 by the governor of Kentucky in 1936.

I wonder what it would have taken to get the honorary title of general?

5: Initially, the Colonel had a gas station and sold chicken from the back of the station.

Harland eventually realized people were coming for the chicken so he concentrated on that. To commemorate those beginnings, to this day, you can stop at KFC and get gas.

6: The name Kentucky Fried Chicken was officially changed to KFC in 1991.

The name was changed, in part, to get away from the word, “fried,” which has negative connotations. Which is about like Hannibal Lector changing his name to H. Lecter. See, nothing about a murdering cannibal comes to mind.

7: The first bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken was sold in 1957.

Early marketing ideas failed to catch on. Troughs of chicken and feedbags of chicken were unsuccessful. Wait, being told that premise is completely bogus.

8: The Colonel was reportedly quite the womanizer and far from politically correct.

So when the Colonel was on the road and he was talking about breasts, etc he wasn’t always talking about chicken.

9: In his early days, he shot a competitor.

Back when he had a gas station and chicken place, he shot a competitor who had allegedly painted over the Colonel’s sign which directed people to his business. While we may never know why the chicken crossed the road, we know why the Colonel crossed the road. To shoot a competitor.

It should be noted the competitor shot a killed one of the two managers who were with Sanders at the time, so it was an intense situation.

10: KFC sold Christmas albums.

I wonder what was on those albums? Maybe some well-known Christmas songs with a KFC twist. Here are some ideas:

1: I’m Dreaming of Some White Gravy

2: O Come All Yea Hungry

3: Do You Smell What I Smell?

4: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like I Need Weight Watchers

5: Have Yourself Another Piece of Chicken

6: Chicken Pieces on Earth

7: Waddlin Around the Christmas Tree

8: All I Want for Christmas is a KFC Bucket

So, it turns out the Colonel was kind of a wild and crazy guy. By the way, their coleslaw is also really good.

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