who is the guy on the kentucky fried chicken commercial
Colonel Sanders A fictionalized Colonel Sanders has repeatedly appeared as a mascot in KFC's advertising and branding. Sanders has been voiced by impressionists in radio ads, and from 1998 to 2001 an animated version of him voiced by Randy Quaid appeared in television commercials.[43] In May 2015, KFC reprised the Colonel Sanders character in new television advertisements, played by comedian Darrell Hammond.[32][44] Some commentators felt the new portrayal was distasteful and disrespectful of the actual man's legacy.[32][45][46][47] In August 2015, KFC launched a new campaign, this time with comedian Norm Macdonald portraying Sanders; the first ad of the campaign makes direct reference to the Hammond campaign, with a brief piece of footage of Hammond followed by Macdonald's Colonel declaring his predecessor an impostor.[48] In February 2016, yet another portrayal was introduced with Jim Gaffigan as the Colonel, shown bolting awake in bed and telling his wife about his recurring nightmare of Macdonald's Colonel "pretending to be me".[49] By July 2016, George Hamilton was playing Colonel Sanders, parlaying his famous tan into an advertisement for KFC's "extra crispy" chicken.[50] During the airing of the 2016 SummerSlam, a commercial aired of WWE wrestler Dolph Ziggler dressed up as Colonel Sanders beating up a man in a chicken suit (played by fellow wrestler The Miz) in a wrestling ring.[51] In September 2016 comedian Rob Riggle played Sanders in an ad introducing a football team named "The Kentucky Buckets".[52] In January 2017, to advertise their "Georgia Gold Honey Mustard BBQ" Chicken offerings, actor Billy Zane took over the role as the "Solid Gold Colonel".[53] In April 2017, actor Rob Lowe was announced as the newest actor in the role of Colonel Sanders.[54] Lowe said that as a child, he actually got to meet Harland Sanders.[55] WWE would return to using Colonel Sanders during 2017, showing ads of Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle playing him, as well as announcing that Colonel Sanders would be available as a playable character in WWE 2K18 (accessible through the "create-a-wrestler" feature) as part of a product placement deal with KFC.[56] Ray Liotta then portrayed Sanders, and singer Reba McEntire was named as the newest Sanders in January 2018.[57]