KFC logo is unrecognisable with surprise new look

He's one of the most famous fast food mascots around, along with the likes of Ronald McDonald and Burger King's ingeniously named The Burger King. But KFC's Colonel Sanders has been left almost unrecognisable by a surprise logo change which has shaved years off his appearance.

The Colonel's moustache was completely removed on 1 November to raise awareness of Movember, a month in which participants attempt to grow their own moustache while raising money for charity. It's certainly a bold new look for a familiar face (for more surprising advertising examples, take a look at our best print ads of all time). 

The new design by Sid Lee Paris appeared across KFC France's website and social media on 1 November, along with posts (below) explaining that the rules of Movember involve starting day one of the month with a clean shave (just in case you thought the Colonel was entirely missing the point of Movember by, you know, shaving his moustache). 

But if you aren't a fan of Colonel Sanders' clean new look, don't worry – his moustache appears to have grown back impressively fast. The clean-shaven design only appeared for one day, to mark the start of Movember. We can't help thinking the designers missed a trick here – wouldn't it have been fun (and encouraging for participants) to show the Colonel's moustache gradually regrowing over the month?

It seems Colonel Sanders isn't the only food mascot participating in Movember this year. In the first change to Pringles' logo since 1968, Mr. P (we didn't know that was his name either) has also been given a fresh-faced makeover, courtesy of We Are Social.

The temporary logo change is becoming a rather familiar marketing strategy for brands in 2020. Just last week, KitKat removed its logo from its packaging entirely after an alarming revelation about Australian consumers' recycling habits, while Time magazine replaced its title with a message for American voters. Check out our 6 best examples of brands temporarily changing their packaging.

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