Reba McEntire Is The New Colonel Sanders And People Are Conflicted
By Aimee LutkinUpdated Nov. 18 2019, 2:16 p.m. ET
When I think of fried chicken, I think Colonel Sanders. And Colonel Sanders is the epitome of manly ruggedness, with his bolo tie, white linen suit, tiny mustache, and old Southern manners. So, it's a bit confusing for some that his characters is now being played by Reba McEntire in drag.
It's not clear if Reba is permanently on the job, or if she's just there to promote their new flavor Smoky Mountain BBQ, but this version of the Colonel sure throws a helluva hoedown.
"Nothing to see here, folks. Nope, nothin’ at all. Just the same old Colonel with a new flavor of fried chicken," writes KFC's official account.
Nothing to see here, folks. Nope, nothin’ at all. Just the same old Colonel with a new flavor of fried chicken. pic.twitter.com/ju2omd07OC
— KFC (@kfc) January 26, 2018Reba teased her transformation on her own Twitter account — slyly posting this photo without a caption — because some images require zero words to be perfectly comprehended by their audiences.
But not everyone is down with a woman Colonel Sanders. Is it sexism? Nostalgia for Rob Lowe's portrayal? Horror at the uncanny valleyness of Reba's costume? Disappointment that it's taken so long for KFC to catch up with the 21st century?
"Always thought we'd have a woman president before we had a woman Colonel Sanders tbh," said one person on Twitter. Another added, "Please bring back Norm Mcdonald as Col Sanders, he was awesome."
Yeah, that’s just weird. pic.twitter.com/3DacctyZZb
— Michele G Allen (@MichiAllen) January 26, 2018Always thought we'd have a woman president before we had a woman Colonel Sanders tbh.
— taco belle & sebastian™ (@TimDuffy) January 26, 2018Seems like brand confusion to me.
— Lana Turner (@Lana_M_Turner) January 26, 2018Please bring back Norm Mcdonald as Col Sanders, he was awesome.
— Rob Fairchild (@RSFairchild) January 26, 2018But i'm happy to report that many, many more people are enjoying this change:
Finally, women have broken the fried ceiling. Congratulations @reba
— Mary Williams Barber (@therealMaryKat) January 26, 2018This is awesome. Lovin' me some @reba as the Colonel. https://t.co/7KaaBjjYwb
— Sally MacDonald (@SallyMacFox26) January 26, 2018Not sure why, but this makes me very emotional. Two of my favorite things. Fried chicken and Reba. https://t.co/eI8ndatcqB
— Karla Rodriguez (@ohkarli_) January 26, 2018Holy shit. I never thought I’d say this but I stan kfc.
— Tom Bellino (@tombellino) January 26, 2018Reba, you have done done it again, 🙌🏽🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 & yes I do mean the KFC commercial!!!!!🙌🏽😂🔥🔥🔥 You should start back doing more commercials like this their could never be enough I LOVE THEM, YOU, & ALL THAT SASSINESS of yours 😂😂😂😂💖💖💖
— 🌞Melnay🌞👸🏽♊️👸🏽👣👑🏵☀️🌳🍁🐊🌽🦐🤠☕️🍫🍯🍮🍭 (@SistaGirl21) January 26, 2018I might actually eat KFC now... thank you Reba... I mean Colonel Sanders ;)
— Candice Ryan (@IamCandiceRyan) January 26, 2018I love this
— Kelly Marie (@i8urpenguin) January 26, 2018REEEEBER!!! WTF (why the fudge) NOT? I'm happy women are finally getting more roles in entertainment!
— J. Nusom (@jusnusom) January 26, 2018KFC doing everything to make Trump stop eating their chicken... pic.twitter.com/69cRaLUFae
— Glen (@Glen_Superman) January 26, 2018According to Time, Reba thinks the whole stunt is finger lickin' good.
“I thought the transformation was really funny,” McEntire told reporters. “I got a big kick out of it.”
I get a big kick out of Reba McEntire, so if she wants to sell me fried chicken, I won't get angry about it.
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