Working on your tan? So is KFC. Today the fried chicken chain releases Extra Crispy a new sunscreen that purportedly smells like fried chicken. A press release notes the SPF 30 lotion assures that "harmful ultraviolet rays bounce off your skin while the lovely fragrance rays penetrate it to give you a healthy chicken aroma." Early testers report it smells more like urine or a baby's diaper than fried chicken.
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Fried chicken fiends and KFC fans can get their hands on a bottle at the website dedicated to the product which features KFC's latest colonel, George Hamilton. Of course Hamilton sports a particularly deep golden brown tan in the photos, Photoshopped to be the same shade of brown as KFC's fried chicken. Whether the product actually helps sunbathers achieve an extra crispy color and texture probably varies by person.
Positioning it as a lifestyle product — not the company's first — marketing language alludes to the dual purpose of the sunscreen: "The sun gives us life. But if we're not careful it also gives us painful sunburns. That's why we made KFC's Extra Crispy Sunscreen! Its SPF helps protect your skin while the real fried chicken scent leaves you smelling delicious!"
Fortunately? Unfortunately? KFC's new product is not edible: "KFC Extra Crispy Sunscreen is not a food product. NOT a food product. Do not eat this product. Even though this product smells delicious, it is not delicious. The only skin that should be extra crispy this summer is on your fried chicken."
Another way to smell "delicious" is to spend some time in front of a hot frying pan full of fried chicken, but depending on your notion of fun, that's not quite as enjoyable as laying out in the sun.