The brand name, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a revolution in itself. So is its iconic slogan – “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”
The KFC slogan has been synonymous to its brand identity, exactly like the smiling picture of its owner and founder, Kentucky Colonel, Harland Sanders. Yes, the slogan has been in existence since the 1950s. But there has been other notable marketing slogans of KFC over the years, like:
“Nobody does chicken like KFC” (1998)
“Colonel Quality, Guaranteed” (2016)
“It’s chicken dippin’ good” (2020)
However, not many of them made as much impact globally as “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good” . No wonder people were quite disappointed, when the company changed its iconic tagline to something as bland as “So Good” during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the decision was on fair grounds, as the brand didn’t want to promote ‘licking fingers’ during a global pandemic, it didn’t go down well with the customers.
Source : Reddit
So you see how much impact the slogan had on the minds of the KFC audience? Well, there are many more branding fun facts about KFC slogans that you should know. Scroll on!
A Brief History of KFC Slogan – “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”
Although KFC officially started in 1952, Harland Sanders was known for his exceptional chicken recipes much before that. In the mid 1930s, he had a service station in Kentucky, where he made food for famished travelers. His delicious chicken recipes became so famous that soon he was awarded the title of ‘Colonel Kentucky’ by the then governor Ruby Laffoon.
In the early 1950s, Sanders decided to expand his dining services and open franchises in other areas. Dave Harman, one of the KFC franchisees from Phoenix, was responsible for the evergreen KFC slogan – It’s Finger Lickin’ Good.
Here’s how it happened.
Harman used to lend his voice to TV commercials that advertised his restaurant in Phoenix. However, he suffered a stroke and couldn’t speak with clarity henceforth. It was his manager, Ken Harbough, who substituted for him. But Harman accompanied him to the studio every time, sat with a plate of delicious chicken fries, while the commercials were recorded.
It was on one such fortunate day, when an enraged woman called the station and complained about a local advertisement, where Harman was seen ‘licking his fingers’. Harbough instantly (and funnily) defended his boss, saying, “Well, it’s finger lickin’ good!” Hence, quite spontaneously, one of the most revolutionary marketing slogans of all time was born!
Popularity of KFC Slogan, “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”
The famous KFC slogan of 68 years was trademarked in 1956. As mentioned earlier, the phrase was coined quite instantaneously by Ken Harbough and went on to become the brand’s tagline in the following years. By the 60s, the tagline was raising a storm throughout the nation, because of its quirky uniqueness. It was also accepted as one of the ‘best-known slogans’ of the 20th century.
The ‘finger-lickin’ KFC slogan was so popular, and the global audience loved it so much, that they were quite enraged when KFC replaced it by a rather dull one, ‘So Good’ in 2011. The company had to bring it back in 2015 while revamping their US advertising strategies.
In 2020, KFC dropped the slogan temporarily, as they felt it was ‘inappropriate’ to the pandemic situation, only to be brought back the next year itself. However, although the slogan was globally dropped from all the marketing campaigns of the brand, it continued to be used in India. Probably it was because the brand was incomplete without the slogan, just like its ‘secret recipe’ of herbs and condiments.
Other Notable KFC Slogans and Their Impact
Let’s face it!
Other KFC slogans didn’t make as much impact as “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”. But they played pretty good roles in the brand’s marketing endeavors over the years. Some of these slogans have been listed below:
1956 – 1968
One of the earliest KFC slogans, before the ‘finger lickin’ good’, one was “North America’s Hospitality Dish”, which was used in the marketing campaigns of the 50s and 60s. There was another mention-worthy KFC slogan during this period – “We fix Sunday dinner seven nights a week” – that depicted the confidence of the brand in preparing delectable chicken cuisines.
However, the spotlight on both the taglines was gradually shifted to promote the brand’s evergreen slogan – ‘It’s Finger Lickin’ Good’.
“Nobody Does Chicken Like KFC” – 1998
This particular KFC slogan was first introduced by an Australian TV commercial in 1998. It later went on to be used by the brand in numerous marketing campaigns across the globe. People connected with the phrase, as it was so true! KFC indeed has the best fried chicken recipes in the world.
“It’s America’s Good Country Meal”
The slogan associated the American food culture with fried chicken cuisines. It’s a bit tricky to place this phrase on KFC’s advertising timeline, as it didn’t have a major impact. But it was somewhere in the mid 60s or 70s that the slogan was used to advertise the brand locally.
“It’s Nice to Feel So Good about a Meal” (1976-1981)
In 1976, the KFC tagline was “It’s Nice to Feel So Good about a Meal”, and it remained so till 1981. This phrase was coined after the brand identified consumer’s guilt as one of its major marketing obstacles. What is this consumer guilt? Well, we commonly know it as “buyer’s regret”, where one feels regretful after making a purchase decision. The tagline was a positive note to help uplift consumer moods after having Kentucky Fried Chickens.
“We Do Chicken Right” (1980s)
It was also in the early 80s that KFC hired the Mingo-Jones advertising agency to target its African-American audience. The agency came up with the simplistic slogan, “We Do Chicken Right” in 1981, which was then accepted across the entire chain.
“Everybody Needs a little KFC” (1994)
David Charles Novak, the former CEO at Yum! Brands, the multinational corporation that runs KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and other fast food chains in the US, coined this phrase when he took up office in 1994. This KFC slogan was known to help increase sales of the company, because of its directness, and the deeply-embedded FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) factor.
“Colonel Quality, Guaranteed” (2016)
After bringing back the “Finger Lickin’ Good” slogan in 2015, KFC coined another slogan in 2016 to offer quality assurance to the customers in the name of the founder, Colonel Sanders.
“It’s Good” (2020)
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the world-famous fast food chain took a culturally-acceptable decision that seemed right at that moment. KFC dropped its 64-years old slogan, “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”, from all its marketing campaigns, as the authorities felt that it was inappropriate for the current situation. They used a bland slogan, “It’s Good”, instead. The decision was not lauded by a major section of its audience, as they felt it was unnecessary. Due to pressure from the public, KFC brought the ‘finger lickin’ slogan back the next year.
Fun Facts About KFC Slogans and Branding Strategies
Branding is not all about slogans and logos. It’s the emotions of your customers that you have to connect to.
KFC has always made headlines, because of its unique branding strategies, especially the way its marketing slogans played around with words to grab attention. With 28,000+ franchises over the world, the brand has always put its best foot forward regarding brand development.
Here are some fun facts about KFC slogans and overall branding strategies:
- About 185 million people watch a KFC commercial every week on different marketing channels. It means that more than 50% of the US population come across KFC advertisements every week.
- The slogan, ‘It’s Finger Lickin’ Good’ was officially dropped from the company’s advertising campaigns in 2011. However, it still keeps reappearing in many areas, because of its instant recognition factor.
- The brand made headlines by awarding its ‘finger lickin’ good’ slogan as “The most inappropriate slogan in 2020”, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It paused the circulation of the tagline for a while before it was reinstated in 2021.
- KFC started the ‘Try On’ marketing campaign during the pandemic in 2020, where it borrowed slogans from other renowned brands, like Snickers, Nike, Tesco, McDonald’s, etc., for 48 hours. The campaign was so unique that it created quite a stir in the marketing world. The brand explained this move by saying that it was a form of flattery for the other brands it borrowed the temporary slogans from. In a PR released by KFC, the brand was quoted saying, “we’re just having a little fun and have nothing but respect for the brands featured. After all, would we be using their slogans if we didn’t like them?”
- The KFC slogan, “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”, when translated for advertising in China, accidentally turned out to be – “We’ll eat your fingers off”. Well! What a demonic way to attract customers!
Over to You
KFC is undoubtedly one of the most-loved fast food chains in the world, not only because of it’s delicious food, but also its marketing campaigns, especially its catchy slogans.
“It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”, the most popular KFC slogan, was coined almost accidentally by an advertiser and actor, Ken Harbough in 1952. But it goes without saying that the slogan turned out to be even more famous than the brand.
Although the slogan was officially dropped in 2011, the brand had to bring it back to appease its customers, who were clearly disappointed with the move. It was again dropped from its marketing campaigns in 2020, as KFC thought of it as ‘inappropriate’ for the pandemic situation. Nevertheless, the slogan was returned to its REAL owners – the customers – just after a year.
As a part of its branding strategies, KFC has also used the taglines of other renowned brands in 2020 for a brief period. If there’s a single thing to learn from the branding strategies of KFC, it’ll be this –
Make your marketing slogan as relevant as possible to your business and make it fun!