Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include a statement from a KFC spokesman.
KFC is again saying "It's Finger Lickin' Good!", quietly returning the tagline to its advertising after seven months.
"It's Finger Lickin' Good!" appears on screen at the end of a TV commercial titled "Chicken Business," in which an actor in the voice of KFC founder and spokesperson Colonel Sanders touts its new Chicken Sandwich. Sanders says, "When making the new Kentucky Fried Chicken Sandwich, people asked how I felt about burger places selling fried chicken. I'd say that's none of my business -- just like making fried chicken is none of theirs."
"The iconic 'it's Finger Lickin' Good' slogan has returned in celebration of our new KFC Chicken Sandwich — the only chicken sandwich that's truly 'Finger Lickin' Good,'" a KFC spokesman said in a statement to CBR. "Though we've reintroduced the iconic slogan, we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our customers (and expect that our slogan isn't taken too literally). KFC U.S. previously paused the use of the 'it's Finger Lickin' Good' slogan in television advertising only in the U.S. in March of 2020."
KFC announced it was temporarily suspending the 64-year-old slogan Aug. 2020 out of sensitivity to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and in keeping with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for people to avoid touching their faces with unwashed hands. KFC Global Chief Marketing Officer Catherine Tan-Gillespie said then that KFC would again use the tagline "when the time is right."
When KFC retired the slogan, it aired a commercial showing photos and clips from its past ads with the words "It's Finger Lickin' Good!" pixelated out. The commercial ended, "That thing we always say? Ignore it. For now."
KFC was founded by Sanders in 1930 in North Corbin, KY. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, KFC expanded from a single restaurant to a global brand, with 24,000 locations in more than 145 countries and territories.
Source: YouTube