KFC Is Desperately Hoping Millennials Will Take Its Colonel Sanders Bait

KFC sales are on the rise with six consecutive quarters of growth, according to its parent company, Yum! Brands Inc. The company credits the shift in momentum to the resurgence of Colonel Sanders in the company's advertisements, the Associated Press reported, after KFC had long faced serious competition from other chains such as Chick-fil-A.

The chicken chain's white-coated Southern spokesperson has recently reappeared in commercials, with actors Darrell Hammond and Norm Macdonald portraying the Colonel as a kind of "over-the-top" sales tactic, Business Insider writes. The concept has been christened the "re-Colonelization" of the brand, Kevin Hochman, KFC's chief marketing officer, told BI.

This marketing push is a concerted effort to appeal to the millennial generation. Apparently, three out of five people in this generation have never eaten at KFC, and Hochman told the AP bringing back the Colonel is an attempt to get youngsters reacquainted with this bearded man and the things he stood for when he created the company.

KFC is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and the Colonel had not previously appeared in ads since 1994, according to AdAge. The company's new marketing firm, Wieden & Kennedy, was responsible for his revival, which debuted last summer.