KFC Colonel Sanders Is So Kawaii!

The wildfire success of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan is the stuff that makes business textbook writers giddy. An all-American institution was successfully turned into a staple of Japanese fast food thanks to cultural awareness, adaptation, and clever marketing. Among the things done in KFC’s eastward expansion was to position the chain’s founder, Colonel Sanders, as something of a mascot figure. Many Japanese KFC branches still have a life-size statue replica of the Colonel somewhere on the premises.

However, things got a little bit outlandish in the very youthful district of Akihabara. Many KFC owners started to dress the all-time American Colonel into a very otaku-oriented maid uniform. However, for those of you who aren’t into cross-dressing, rest assured, as the KFC headquarters in America told the Akihabara branch to stop dressing Colonel Sanders in a maid costume apparently, so he has been returned to his original self. Although, there’s something really attracting in that maid uniform. You know you shouldn’t be gawking at it, but it’s just so bizarrely compelling that you can’t turn away…

• For more pictures, click HERE.