Kentucky Fried Chicken Welcome

Red illustration of a man's head wearing glasses and with a beard and mustache over red text on a white background.

Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded by Harland David Sanders during the Great Depression, when Shell Oil Company offered Sanders a service station in exchange for a percentage of the total fuel sales.  As the service station proved successful, Sanders decided to open his first restaurant.  In the mid 1930's, the Governor of Kentucky commissioned Sanders as the Kentucky Colonel.  Colonel Sanders branded himself as the face of all Kentucky Fried Chicken advertising as the restaurant opened new franchises through the 1950s.  In 1964, Sanders sold the company but stayed on as a goodwill ambassador and face of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  At present, Kentucky Fried Chicken still uses Colonel Sanders and the original images in their advertising campaigns.