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And A Big Ole' Cookie

Colonel Sanders is back America!!

Many Americans, especially me, were wondering where on earth the KFC legend Colonel Sanders went. Well, on May 25, 2015, Kentucky Fried Chicken (kfc.com), a fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, told America of Colonel Sander's whereabouts. KFC published a series of commercials on May 25, 2015 featuring an actor (Darrell Hammond) imitating Colonel Sanders. The commercial shown above, titled, "Phillip," is an outstanding jingle that also advertises for gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins. This commercial is advertising for gluttony simply through the fact that the $5 Fill up box contains an overabundance of food.

Denotative Examination: In the advertisement, there is a mandolin band made of children of both genders- all of them are standing, playing various string instruments, and wearing white, fancy clothes. In the foreground, Colonel Sanders and his friend, Phillip, are sitting in chairs, wearing white and fancy clothes as well. Phillip has KFC's $5 Fill up box in his lap. Colonel Sanders has two hands on the top of a cane. All actors are wearing the same black bow tie. The color of all actor's tie and clothes are worthy of note because it is a similar outfit to what the original Colonel Sanders wore quite frequently. The ad is set is in a park. Colonel Sanders is the only one who speaks, performing a quick, and extremely catchy jingle that describes the $5 Fill up box. The commercial also slowly zooms in on Colonel Sanders' face before moving to the actual food. This layout is interesting because it shows Colonel Sanders is truly the focus of the ad. The image of the food is obviously the ideal look of the food contained in the $5 Fill up box. It is almost guaranteed that when ordered, the $5 Fill up box will look like a less tasty version of what appears in the ad. This is a strategy of the advertiser because the tastier the image of the food looks, the more likely customers are going to buy the food, although the advertisement's image might not be exactly what the product would look like.

  

Connotative Examination: In the advertisement, Colonel Sanders is the only actor wearing a white suit coat. This is interesting because it shows he is the authority figure in the ad, and possibly the most important. It separates him from all other actors in the commercial. Furthermore, the mandolin band of children is lined up in order of height. There is one exception, which occurs as the third to last boy is taller than the second to last boy. This makes me believe that the band may possibly be lined up in order of age. This is particularly interesting because I think the advertiser is attempting to highlight the diversity of all of the children that appear in the band. It may even be an allusion to the real Colonel Harland David Sander's charitable efforts with education. The producer of the ad uses language similar to that of what Colonel Harland David Sander's used. For example, the way the actor pronounces the word "taters" is a characteristic of the accent which the original Colonel Sanders possessed. 

Intended Audience: The intended audience of the advertisement is primarily older white males, however, it is not limited to only older white males. This is due to the actors that appear in the commercial. Colonel Sanders and Phillip are the stars of this ad, and are both white males. The economic background of the ad's intended audience appeals to less affluent, middle class people due to the relatively cheap bargain of the $5 Fill up box. The fast food aspect of the ad appeals to more middle class because the middle class eats the most fast food. There is a large amount of culture behind Colonel Sanders and KFC because the fast food chain was established in 1930 and the company's founder is its mascot. Due to that, the ad appeals more towards viewers that have cultural knowledge of KFC and its history. The cultural knowledge that the intended audience might have includes a general idea of who Colonel Sanders was, a general idea of the history behind KFC, and overall knowledge of previous KFC commercials.