GamesFightingTekken 8Tekken boss once tried to get KFC’s Colonel Sanders to join the roster, but the chicken superpower wouldn’t budge: ‘They weren’t very open to the idea’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesFightingTekken 8Tekken boss once tried to get KFC’s Colonel Sanders to join the roster, but the chicken superpower wouldn’t budge: ‘They weren’t very open to the idea’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: KFC)
Once upon a time, a magical collaboration between a fighting game franchise and worldwide fast food mascot almost took place, until a fried chicken conglomerate got in the way. I’m of course talking about Tekken and its director Katsuhiro Harada’s attempt to bring KFC mascot Colonel Sanders on as a guest fighter. So much potential in that pairing, but it wasn’t meant to be.
In an interview withTheGamer, Harada briefly told the story of reaching out to KFC during development of an unspecified Tekken game.
“A long time ago, I wanted to have Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken fight,” Harada said. “So, I asked to use Colonel Sanders and go to the head office in Japan.” Harada said he traveled to KFC headquarters, received a “bad look”, and was shot down.
In the same TheGamer interview, Tekken 8 game designer Michael Murray expanded on why the fried chicken restaurant, which has a large physical andcultural presencein Japan, might not have been willing to work with them.
“[Colonel Sanders] appeared in games after that. So maybe it was just him fighting against someone [that] was posing a problem for them,” Murray said. “But it just goes to show how difficult these types of discussions are.”
One Sanders game Murray was probably referring to isI Love You, Colonel Sanders!, the official KFC dating sim/adver-game the company released for free in 2019. I share Murray’s confusion: Fawning over and smooching Colonel Sanders is on the table, but trading blows with Heihachi Mishima is a bridge too far? I hate to give a hat tip to Burger King—objectively the worst burger in fast food—but at least when that franchise decided to spend some marketing dollars turning its mascot into a videogame star,the Sneak King didn’t screw around.
Maybe Harada was dealing with an older, less-enlightened chicken regime at the time, but it sounds like the creative director doesn’t plan on trying again. KFC’s loss.
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The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April
Lords of the Fallen publisher embraces fear of the DEI boogeyman, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its games
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
If you’re trying to convince me your ‘companionship’ robot is ‘lifelike’, maybe don’t rip her face off in the demo video
Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
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