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The internet roasts KFC’s answer to International Women’s Day
IRL Unclick

The internet roasts KFC’s answer to International Women’s Day

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KFC @jocelyngeddie/Twitter (Fair Use) Remix by Jason Reed

Who is she?

Today is International Women’s Day, and the brands have been preparing to let you know how much they care about women. McDonald’s flipped its golden arches on the company’s social accounts to make the M a W. (The W is for women, get it??) KFC Malaysia has followed suit with Claudia Sanders, Colonel Sander’s wife.

Marketing Week tweeted out the story and photo:

https://twitter.com/MarketingWeekEd/status/971764573169684481

Here’s KFC Malaysia’s official tweet about Claudia, who KFC said should be recognized because she “mixed and shipped the spices” for Sanders’ chicken. Yes, really.

But just a couple of months ago, Reba McEntire played Colonel Sanders in an ad. So does that mean McEntire is now married to Claudia in this fictional fast-food universe? We hope so.

On Twitter, people lambasted KFC’s attempt at throwing women a bone.

Is Claudia really Colonel Sanders in disguise?

On KFC’s website, the company stated why it was bringing out Claudia for IWD:

It is hard to imagine but KFC would not be where it is today if not for Claudia, wife of Colonel Sanders. While the Colonel created the secret recipe and ran the company, Mrs Sanders mixed and even shipped the spices to restaurants across the country – often late into the night.

This International Women’s Day, we pay tribute to Claudia Sanders for her role in the making of Malaysia’s favourite fried chicken. And to every woman whose ideas, hard work and passion contribute to making the world a better place. Thank you.

KFC invited customers to “Tag #KFCIWD and tell us about the Claudia in your life.”

Some people jokingly asked other brands to reveal their own lady mascots (or spouses of mascots).

May the best brand win… our respect for not trying to pander to us.

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly is the Unclick editor at Daily Dot. Previously, she worked at Ars Technica and Wired. Her writing has appeared in several other print and online publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Popular Mechanics, and GQ.

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