Tuesday, Dec. 08, 2009
The Colonel Is in the House
In one of the year's most audacious publicity stunts, an actor dressed as KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders — who died in 1980 — breached security at the U.N.'s headquarters in New York City and posed for photographs with a beaming official. The white-maned, goateed imposter, clad in Sanders' trademark white suit and black bow tie (later identified by KFC as an actor named Robert Thompson), infiltrated the building and earned an audience with U.N. General Assembly President Ali Treki. "It should not have happened — that I will stress, and very strongly," said U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas. The ruse was part of the fast-food chain's marketing campaign to have "Grilled Nation" certified as the body's newest member state.