Yes, the newest KFC colonel is sort of an animal. No, it's not a chicken

KFC has a new character to promote its new hot honey flavor and it isn't a celebrity colonel. It's a slightly menacing bottle of honey. Yes, a bottle of honey is the newest character selling fried chicken. The campaign starring "Colonel Bear" includes a commercial in which one of those bear-shaped bottles of honey emulates the real Colonel Harland Sanders' always-on salesman's dedication, interrupting what would be a family's serious talk to hawk the new chicken. The honey bear bottle is, of course, done up in KFC Colonel style, including the founder's glasses, facial hair, white suit and black tie. KFC says its newest Southern-inspired flavor is its take on a blend of sweet honey and mild peppers, a flavor it suggests is "the next sriracha." Food trends come and go, so time will tell. KFC also proclaims the Colonel Bear is its "cutest" and "feistiest" colonel yet, in a statement from CMO Andrea Zahumensky. Fans of celebrities who have morphed into the colonel, including Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, George Hamilton, and current campaigner Jason Alexander, can decide. KFC is promoting the new product with an offer for people to "adopt" (aka win) a plastic bear that utters some prerecorded sayings. The campaign comes from Wieden & Kennedy, which has been KFC's creative agency since 2015 and added media responsibilities earlier this year. Hot honey joins three other Southern-inspired flavors at KFC: Nashville Hot, Georgia Gold honey mustard BBQ and Smoky Mountain BBQ. KFC is the nation's second-largest chicken chain behind Chick-fil-A. The market leader has long used another animal, cows, to sell its chicken.

Yes, the newest KFC colonel is sort of an animal. No, it's not a chicken

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