lifestyle

Who Is The Woman That Replaced Colonel Sanders In The New KFC Logo?

It's a small but meaningful change.

Cover image via Munchies - Vice / KFC (edited by SAYS)

This Spotlight is sponsored by KFC.

KFC has just launched a special site takeover on all their social media pages. Have you managed to spot it?

Image via KFC

Keep a careful lookout, and you'll notice that the iconic Colonel Sanders logo has been replaced by that of an unidentified woman. And no, she's not just Colonel Sanders with a wig k.

So who is this woman and why is she significant?

Image via Tech Daily

She's actually Claudia Sanders, the wife of Colonel Sanders! The late Sanders couple met way back in 1930, when she was working as a waitress at the Colonel's first restaurant, and later got married in 1948.

While everyone knows the many contributions of the Colonel and just how hard he worked in building up KFC into a popular fast food franchise, you guys probably don't know that Claudia is the backbone to KFC's success stories.

In fact, David Novak, the former president and chief executive of KFC, once said that "we could not have been the company we are now without Claudia's contributions."

Without Claudia, the Colonel would not have been able to juggle all the various responsibilities that came with running a successful business

Image via Trip Advisor

In an interview from 1991, Claudia herself says that "while he (The Colonel) was out selling, I was home doing the work." This included the important task of making sure that all the franchise outlets received the correct ingredients.

It was Claudia's duty to mix, package, and ship out the secret blend of herbs and spices to the respective outlets

Image via gettyimages

And do remember that back in the day, shipping wasn't as convenient as it is now. Claudia often burned the midnight oil and would go to the train station late at night to make sure that even the out-of-state restaurants received the package on time.

She also accompanied her husband on trips around the country to promote their fried chicken. In her own words, she "went into restaurants all over the country and played the part of the hostess with this antebellum dress on."

KFC has chosen to shine a spotlight on Claudia as a representative of other women’s contributions, in conjunction with this year's International Women's Day (IWD)

Celebrated annually on 8 March since 1911, it commemorates the movement for women's rights and continues to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women.

This year, the IWD campaign theme is #PressforProgress, which urges us all to press forward and progress towards gender parity.

Besides the logo change, KFC also visited two amazing women to further show their support for IWD

Noor Hidayu is a single mother of seven children, while Chan Lai Seong has been taking care of her son ever since he lost his eyesight 10 years ago.

In the spirit of IWD, KFC decided to celebrate these two amazing women who defy the odds every day by gifting them with some essential daily supplies, cooking staples, and much more, including of course some yummy food from KFC.

Check out the video below to see all of KFC's IWD efforts:

So this International Women’s Day, who do you celebrate? Share your stories on Instagram and tag #KFCIWD!

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Image via SAYS

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