KFC’s Colonel Sanders is now a digital human – Will other iconic brand mascots follow?

Look at digital humans through the lens of a corporation. Digital human influencers are more reliable, trustworthy, and less of a hassle than their flesh-and-blood counterparts. All of their actions are controlled by the organization.

Everything about a digital human can be fabricated – from their personality to their struggles to the way they solve those struggles – all of which are used to build trust and eventually push an agenda. In many ways, they are a marketer’s ideal influencer.

Everything you need to know about Digital Humans

Six months ago when I wrote Everything you need to know about Digital Humans, it was clear to me why companies would circumnavigate the entire talent industry and create their own digital human influencers to promote their products.

One of our Inevitable/Human members, Cathy Hackl, took it a step further and identified the next massive corporate move that would be made with Digital Humans:

Lo and behold, KFC (not Wendy’s, so close Cathy) turned their beloved and distinctly familiar mascot, Colonel Sanders, into a Digital Human that lives on their Instagram:

As Cathy accurately describes, he’s a combination of hustle culture, being woke, and inspirational speaker. What I find particularly interesting is the fact that KFC was able to instantly inject their Digital Human Colonel with 1.4 million Instagram followers.

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