Is the Colonel Real?

Apparently a lot of people don't know that Col. Sanderswas a real person. Apparently KFC thinks this is something that needs to be addressed.

Forget pressing issues like whether the KFC Double Downshould be sold with Vytorin on the side. You could argue that's mitigated by the record-breaking $4.2 million donation KFC gave the Susan Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation. (My favorite part of the KFC.com website is that right under the video of the guy promoting the Double Down is a link to a "Keep Fit Challenge".)

The colonel is bigger than that. But America doesn't know it.

Steven Senne

A KFC restaurant in Boston.

This year marks 120 years since Colonel Harland Sanders was born.

He started cooking chicken 80 years ago with his famous blend of 11 herbs and spices, and began franchising Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1955, at the age of 65, using his first Social Security check.

It's actually a pretty interesting story—Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, reportedly helped the Colonel take KFC to the next level by simplifying the menu and revolutionizing fast food. Sanders died back in 1980, but his logo lives on with every bucket you buy.

KFC is now launching a year-long celebration "spotlighting Colonel Sanders and his legacy."

The problem, if you consider it a problem, is that a survey showed six out of ten American adults ages 18-25 could not identify the Colonel by name, three in ten have no idea who he is/was, and more than half believe HE'S MADE UP!!

This will not stand.

The company is holding a contests for artists to create portraits of the Colonel "using paint infused with Original Recipe Herbs and Spices".

Let's hope the paintings look finger-lickin' good. Heh...heh...sigh. Artists can submit their entries to www.kfc.com/portrait. The winner's work will be displayed at KFC headquarters next to a portrait of Col. Sanders painted by Norman Rockwell, and the artist will receive $1,100, or $100 for each herb and spice. That will buy you 220 Double Downs. Vytorin is extra.

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