I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator

Objective

KFC sought to reach and engage gamers through an unconventional branded entertainment experience, continuing the brand's strategy—dating to Colonel Sanders' 2015 reintroduction into its marketing—of making the Colonel "part of pop culture." The campaign promoted the brand's menu items (Mac & Cheese Bowls) while building cultural buzz by pairing the brand's iconic founder with a playable dating simulator—a format that inverts traditional product advertising into interactive storytelling.

Solution

A free visual novel-style dating simulator, imagined by creative agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland and developed by Psyop in a Japanese manga/anime art style, released on Steam for PC and Mac (September 24, 2019). A parody of conventional dating sims, the game features a three-day culinary school adventure with nine characters, including a romantic lead version of Colonel Sanders portrayed as an attractive classmate. Core mechanics include branching narrative paths, mini-games (cooking and battle scenarios), character relationship progression across three acts (mental, physical, social challenges), and a progression system to earn an in-game culinary degree. A single playthrough takes about an hour, not counting replays of different story branches. The experience combines choose-your-own-adventure storytelling with taste-culture humor and KFC's signature branding elements.

Results

The game received overwhelmingly positive player reviews: 91% positive out of 11,498 Steam user reviews, with recent reviews (last 30 days) still 86% positive out of 22. Critical reception was more mixed, with a Metacritic score of 50/100. Specific engagement metrics such as downloads and sales impact were not publicly disclosed by KFC or Wieden + Kennedy; third-party estimates put average completion time at about 2 hours (HowLongToBeat).