Well they could just use CGI footage of the actual Colonel Sanders. And they could even take the CGI a step further and create a Colonel Sanders that’s a human/chicken hybrid that goes around feeding parts of his own body to people. 
Back in the day, the good Colonel made some commercials himself. Here’s one from 1969:
Hell, I remember when he was Bob Barker's guest on ***Truth or Consequences*** back around 1966!At the KFC marketing meeting:
“So how did those Colonel ads with Hammond go over with the public?”
“Well, about 50% of our test audience didn’t understand what we were going for. They said the were, quote, ‘weird’.”
“So the other 50% liked them?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“Um… They said they liked them because they were funny.”
“Funny?”
“Yes.”
“But they weren’t supposed to be… Funny.”
“Yes, I know.”
“So, where do we go from here?”
“I say we go with the funny angle. Get some other ex SNL members to be the Colonel also. See if that Norm guy is available.”
Are you guys seriously suggesting that the Hammond spots weren’t intended to be funny?
Whether you find it funny or not, it is inarguable that these spots are going for humor.I think they should go with an over-the-top animated Col. Sanders. Make him an OUTRAGEOUS stereotype, like the Frito Bandito.
Y’know, have him crouching in the watermelon patch with a shotgun, waiting for the revenooers and the dam’ yankees to come prowling around for his delicious fried chicken, and then peppering them with buckshot.
Hey, I had a $5 Fill Up Box just the other day. Considering the circumstances, it was the perfect dinner. 
I didn’t go for the “new” Old Colonel at all–I got a very creepy vibe from that guy. Norm can only be an improvement. If he doesn’t pan out they should give serious consideration to Gilbert Gottfried.
Yeah, I bet the deceased Col. Sanders is rolling in his grave like rotisserie chicken.
I’ll argue against the company going for humor.
Well, they were funny, but maybe not “funny ha ha”.
I liked Hammond as the Colonel. Him being a little “off” made it work. If they just had someone impersonating the deceased Harland Sanders it would have been much weirder.
Bringing in Norm MacDonald, though, is just genius.
Based on a reading of the Colonel’s wikipedia page, it sounds like he was quite the character. If Norm started cussing and fighting with everyone, it sounds like it would be a pretty good impression.
Didn’t they have a cartoon Colonel for a while with Randy Quaid doing the voice? That’ll make Norm the third SNL alum to portray him.
If they really want to go for funny, they should show him rising out of the Dōtonbori River.
I love Norm MacDonald he is the funniest guy
he can make anything funny with how he delivers it so I’m sure the new commercials will be great
Couldn’t find Truth or Consequences, but here he is on What’s My Line?–not as a mystery guest, but just as a regular plain old “guess the job” guest, even though he had his iconic white suite and goatee look. Ah, the days when no one knew who he was.
He was also on I’ve Got a Secret at around the same time. He seemed to be making the rounds of panel shows, and again no one recognized him.
I saw one of the Norm McDonald spots on TV yesterday evening. I kind of like them, if only because they portray the Colonel as more sensible rather than the doddering old codger that Hammond seemed to be playing. It does a bit more for Sanders’s dignity.
I join others in wondering if there are more ex-SNL Colonels to come.
Yeah, and I hated those commercials way more than these last two campaigns (had no idea it was Randy Quaid doing the voice). In particular I hated the way they ended with him ‘getting down & funky with the kids’ with his godawful “Go Colonel*!, Go Colonel!*” chant. The absolute epitome of corporate cluelessness & desperation in clumsily trying to ‘youth-ify’ an established corporate brand. Next I figured he was gonna start rapping, then I’d put a bullet in my head.
These last two have genuine originality to them, but as I said that almost never moves product. Since I love Norm Macdonald though I find his little shrug after claiming to be ‘the real’ Colonel absolutely hilarious*!!* 
I will buy their chicken as soon as they get Tina Fey as the Col. Sanders.
Normally I fast forward through commercials, including the latest KFC commercials, and from what I saw from the Darrel Hammond commercials I was at least familiar with what they were.
Last week I was fast-forwarding and the KFC commercial seemed, well, “different”. It was the new Norm McDonald commercial, which made me stop and back up and watch the entire commercial. Maybe that’s the point - make it different enough to get me to watch it at least.
Frankly I think it’s brilliant. I’m looking forward to other SNL alums doing them, and like someone else mentioned earlier, a SNL Colonel reunion commercial in a year or so might be a real hoot.
I’ll certainly argue against their acheiving humor!
I admit I have no idea how such an argument would go. The thing I linked to, at least, is manifestly attempting to be funny. There’s no part of it that is not part of a joke, albeit some of these jokes are of the very “meta-” type.
I eat KFC about once a decade, if there’s nothing better. Got nothing AGAINST them, I just like Popeye’s and Church’s better.
That being said, I remember a living man named Colonel Sanders, and having cartoons and comedians portray this man creeps me out. Particularly the one with the creepy little laugh, which made me think “child molester disguised as Colonel Sanders.”
And now we have a new one, who is less creepy, and makes me think, “former comedian dressed up as Colonel Sanders, who resembles the real thing somewhat less than the child molester did.”
The idea of cycling through multiple Colonels, although I think it’s a clever idea as far as marketing and word of mouth goes, still strikes me as kind of disrespectful to the real man. Then again, if they get Chris Rock to do it, I’d have to admit that would be blackly humorous in a multiply ironic way. Assuming Rock ain’t too proud to put on the white suit…
…but I also think it’s too clever an idea for ad execs to have come up with. I’m more inclined to think people like me complained “that guy sounds like a child molester,” and simply substituted a new actor.
On the other hand, shuffling actors every couple months IS a pretty valid concept…
You said “child molester” three times. That in itself is a bit creepy :dubious: