Brands are no strangers to music festivals. These days, the sea of pop-up booths, sponsored stages and branded content almost feel like prerequisites to the major music festival experience. Still, while many certainly expect there to be a branded presence at these events nowadays, but few expects that presence to be on the main stage literally performing.
That, however, was the case on Friday night at Ultra Music Festival. Ultra, the Miami EDM festival now in its 20th year, has featured such headlining acts as Avicii, Tiesto, and The Chemical Brothers. In recent years, acts like Afrojack, Major Lazer, and The Chainsmokers have been stars of the show.
But this year’s festival featured a somewhat unlikely newcomer: Colonel Sanders, the now-deceased founder turned mascot of KFC.
.@KFC bought Colonel Sanders a slot on the @Ultra main stage, and this happened. 🐔🥚😂 | 📹: @1001TLtv pic.twitter.com/8qZfUZ7G4K
— Festive Owl (@TheFestiveOwl) March 29, 2019
The bespectacled, goateed man whose name has become synonymous with fried chicken took over the 1’s and 2’s on the main stage Friday night. Well, not actually. The real Colonel died almost forty years ago, but since his death his name and iconic visage have remained symbols of Kentucky Fried Chicken, the brand he founded in 1930.
The Colonel who took the stage at Ultra appeared to be a real DJ wearing a helmet with Colonel Sanders’s face on it. Apparently, KFC purchased “The Colonel” a slot on the main stage.
As you can see from the video above, festival-goers didn’t exactly seem hype about the Colonel’s set. “Any of ya” hungry for some beats?” a pre-recorded fake Colonel voice asked the crowd. They seemed to have already eaten.
