Those David Alan Grier As Colonel Sanders Claims Aren’t True…Yet

These days, Colonel Sanders seems to be a name as easily transferable as James Bond, with the self-labeled ‘Purveyors of the World’s Best Chicken’ cycling through a string of Colonel Sanders faster than you can say “Nashville Hot Chicken isn’t as good as I’d hoped.” First there was Darrell Hammond, then, three months later, Norm Macdonald, and then, just last month, Jim Gaffigan’s Colonel. And now?

While it would be awesome to have a black Colonel, it was tough to decipher whether Grier was serious. The man is a comedian — so the idea that it’s a joke (or a very vocal way of “dressing for the job you want”) was in play.

KFC’s CMO made this statement to Uproxx, “We are very excited to learn that Mr. Grier is such a big fan of KFC and The Colonel. We’re a big fan of him as well. We hope to continue the conversation with him over a $5 Fill Up.”

Which is a very 2016 way of saying, “not yet, but if it’ll make you guys buy our chicken, then we’ll consider it.”

That said, it’s fun to at least imagine Grier putting on a pair of Clubmasters and a string tie and portraying the Colonel. The Twitter reactions to his news have been similarly enthusiastic, with many at least hoping that his tweet isn’t a joke:

https://twitter.com/ksmd15/status/705378593837182976

https://twitter.com/two_mississippi/status/705433413201895425

Then there are those who have expectations for Grier’s Colonel:

And there is, of course, the fan who hopes this opens the door to other black Colonels.

For what it’s worth @MoAlexander, we think there’s probably room for Tracy Morgan in KFC’s revolving lineup of Colonels too. Here’s hoping KFC likes Grier’s idea enough to run with it.