088: How KFC Fried Its Way Into Advertising History

Hello, you lovely Creatives!

Welcome to Volume 8️⃣8️⃣ of Creative Cuts 🔪 - your weekly dose of creative strategy from your friends at Creative OS.

And today on the cutting board…

Let’s talk legacy.

Real, sticky, decades - deep brand legacy.

Because KFC is FAR more than just a fast - food chain….

It’s a marketing case study with sauce on it.

What started as a roadside hustle in Kentucky became one of the most recognizable creative identities in the world.

Not because they chased trends.

But because they built a mythology - and kept adding chapters.

Here’s how they pulled it off 👇

Start with a story people can see.

Colonel Sanders wasn’t a concept.

He was a real guy who dressed the part and became the brand.

White suit. String tie. The face on the bucket.

He knew exactly what he was doing: turning himself into a walking logo.

Brands today talk about “founder story.” KFC lived it.

Every piece of early marketing was infused with this down - home, Southern persona. The man wasn’t in the ads - he was the ad.

Make your packaging part of the plot.

The red - and - white bucket is more than packaging.

It’s an emotional prop. A shorthand for family dinners, road trips, late nights, and Sunday suppers.

It cues nostalgia before the lid even comes off.

KFC didn’t just ship food. They shipped a ritual.

And it worked because it never tried to be cool - it tried to be familiar.

Write like someone’s listening.

“Finger Lickin’ Good” wasn’t a brainstorm.

It came from a franchise owner casually defending the product. Someone saw it, felt it, and said it out loud. And KFC ran with it.

It’s lasted 60 years.

Not because it’s clever. But because it’s human.

The kind of phrase that feels like it’s already in your vocabulary.

Don’t wait for culture. Create your own.

By the 1960s, the Colonel wasn’t just a face - he was a fixture.

Game shows. Parades. Print ads.

Even comic books.

And decades before “mascot marketing” was a thing, KFC made Sanders a household name.

Then came the jingles. The hats tipped in commercials. The family picnic shots.

All reinforcing the same message: this is comfort, not just food.

KFC built a world you could return to.

Treat your creative like a system, not a series.

By the 1970s, the creative expanded with new slogans, new formats, and national ad spend.

But everything still felt like KFC. Even as they shifted tone or tried new messages, the creative infrastructure held firm.

Red stripes. Buckets. The Colonel’s face.

Every new execution anchored back to something deeper.

Shift when you need to - but know where you came from.

As consumer health awareness grew in the 80s and 90s, KFC adjusted its messaging.

Taglines like “We Do Chicken Right” and “Everybody Needs a Little KFC” offered freshness, quality, or a wink of self - awareness.

But they never abandoned the core. Even the design of new restaurants kept the same visual DNA. That consistency made space for reinvention later.

When relevance slips, surprise people.

By the 2010s, KFC needed a reset.

So they brought back the Colonel - with a twist.

Multiple actors, different personalities, full - on absurdist humor.

And it worked.

Each new Colonel was a remix that made the brand feel alive again.

It got people talking.

And more importantly, it reminded them the brand still had something to say.

Make memory part of your media plan.

Through all of it - decades of media shifts and culture changes - KFC kept showing up in unexpected ways.

A logo visible from space. AR stunts. Twitter jokes with 11 Herbs and Spice Girls.

They created moments that felt too specific, too weird, and too on - brand to ignore.

KFC’s Creative Playbook

KFC proves what happens when brand memory, character, and creative systems lock in. The result isn’t just recognition. It’s cultural real estate.

When every part of your marketing says the same thing - without repeating itself - you don’t just build campaigns.

You build belief.

Until next time,

Chase

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