KFC's Colonel Sanders Has Just Joined the 'Street Fighter 6' Roster

Since its release, ‘Street Fighter 6’ has garnered impressive gaming sales and broken records across platforms, including Steam. A major ingredient of its success: the ability to create “recipes” for customized, playable characters that gamers can share and use in the Street Fighter universe. 

In response, original chicken champ KFC Canada is saying “game on'' with a new kind of original recipe that lets Street Fighter fans play as the ultimate recipe master, Chef Colonel Sanders. Starting on July 6th until August 31st, players who don The Colonel avatar can get any combo they want at KFC. Players can use recipe code WFFCHCV5A on Street Fighter 6 to play as Chef Colonel Sanders then complete a hit combo, record it, share it and tag @kfc_canada for a chance to receive a $50 gift card for delicious KFC.

“Right now, every brand wants to get into the world of e-sports. With the introduction of ‘Recipes’ to ‘Street FIghter 6’, we saw an opportunity to connect with gamers organically through our most iconic brand asset – and create a value exchange that’s authentic to the gameplay itself” says Azim Akhter, Marketing Director at KFC Canada.

Using the game’s complex editor, the brand and AOR Courage created a fight-ready version of The Colonel, complete with his iconic white hair, black-rimmed glasses, and identifiable goatee. Dressed in white and larger than life, Chef Colonel Sanders fits right in next to Street Fighter’s roster of characters.

“Great advertising pushes the boundaries of what an ad could be. This is a great example of creating brand relevance by finding the intersection between an iconic brand and an iconic piece of popular culture,” says Tom Kenny, CSO at Courage.

Over the years, KFC has played an active part in gaming culture, whether that meant offering a secret creatable character in ‘WWE 2K18’ or showing up in ‘Fortnite’ as the KFC Chicken Champ with a Bucket Basher harvesting tool.

“The moment ‘Street Fighter 6’ launched, we knew this was an idea we had to jump on and fast. Before it was even green-lit, we had already started designing the Colonel, unlocking his wardrobe, and building the assets needed to make it campaign ready. Simply put, you can’t sit on an idea like this. Either another brand will do it, or you’ll miss your chance to strike while the iron’s hot,” says Dhaval Bhatt, CCO of Courage.