KFC is replacing those somewhat weird commercials featuring Darrell Hammond with a brand new set of somewhat weird commercials featuring Norm Maconald as the “real” Col. Sanders.
The KFC guy said the response to Hammond’s ads had been “80 percent positive, 20 percent hate it,” which was okay, because previously everybody had been indifferent about KFC. I think this is a prime example of doubling down on an idea that wasn’t that good to start with.
Next month, Dennis Miller.
The next, Chris Rock (same white hair and glasses).
Just keep rolling through the various surviving SNL players.
Except Victoria Jackson. She’s fucking crazy.
I thought the Darrell Hammond colonel was weird, and I’m sure Norm will ramp up the weirdness. But I don’t hate the idea. KFC is saying, “you thought *that *was a bad idea? Wait til you see this…” And it might be funny. To be honest, a Chris Rock colonel has a lot of potential to be hilarious.
Pure genius! That had to be what were going for all along!
There’s a part of me that thinks so.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in 3 months there’s another commercial with, like, Colin Quinn as the Col.
“Hey uh…I’m Col. Sanders and (shrug) you know, the 5 dollar fill-up box is the perfect dinner”
3 months later its Dana Carvey. Then they have some super-commercial with them all.
A sneering Denis Leary colonel would be just creepy enough for their ad campaign.
The knowledge that Harland Sanders was a real person and he died in 1980 kind of puts me off this whole campaign. Reviving a fictional character is one thing. Hiring actors to impersonate a person who died - and making jokes about it - seems in poor taste.
Norm MacDonald as Col. Sanders?!?!? Norm Norm Norm, you are never going to live this down.
Creepy, if you ask me! :eek:
I wonder if the Colonel’s estate had any input on the campaign.
Now, if they’d only get the quality back.
The use the fry oil too long, and they let the chicken sit for too long under the lights. Not only that but KFC is not very good at checking and enforcing their rules, so both get even longer under a cheap-ass manager.
Those ads were so weird. I had no idea they were supposed to be funny. I t thought they were just weird.
Here’s what I think Norm’s persona is going to express: “Yeah yeah you and I both know that I’m Norm MacDonald in a hideous white suit, but hey, whaddya gonna do.”
It’s gotta be a bigger paycheck than that state-minimum car insurance outfit he was shilling for.
If the next Colonel Sanders is Phil Hartman or John Belushi, it will get really creepy.
That reminded of this:
[Paraphrasing]
***The Blues Brothers: ***“Elvis and the Colonel are here!?! Lets go see them!”
[They get out of the stage and open a door] [Elvis and Colonel Sanders are eating chicken.]
Elvis: “Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night!”
Virtually the only funny bit in the mess that was the movie Wired, about the life of John Belushi.
The Darrell Hammond ads weren’t meant to be funny. And they weren’t.
The 80% positive/20% negative was bullshit from the company. I’d doubt 50/50.
I really liked the Darrel Hammond ‘Colonel Sanders-as-semi-senile-old-coot’ ones, but I didn’t think for a second that campaign would be successful. Smart, clever, original ads never sell product. I have to say I love these Norm Macdonald meta-ones even more*!* Sooooooo, I don’t know what. Other than now I want some chicken…
Also I’m amazed that Macdonald is a much more passable Col. Sanders than I was expecting him to be*!*
Yeah, if you expect Col. Sanders to be 6’1".
The point was to get a reaction. The point was to go viral, to get people to talk about it on a message board. They don’t give a shit what your response is – “that’s weird” “that’s hilarious” “that’s dumb” – marketing has kind of moved past that. A lot of brands these days are like that kid in elementary school that would eat an old jar of mayonnaise for a buck. If you paid attention to them, they would do anything.
So they were making fun of the original colonel sanders? I could never figure it out.
Revive the character but keep the original spirit alive.