Sudbury actor Rob Wills is getting noticed.
A couple of years ago, Wills was featured as the rejuvenated Colonel Sanders in a few TV spots that featured the colonel getting grumpy about the low prices being charged (only $2.99 for two pieces of chicken on a Tuesday). His role in those commercials was first reported by Sudbury.com in this story.
Fast forward to Saturday night and there was Wills, dressed up as the colonel again with the traditional white suit, white hair, white goatee and a slim black ribbon tie, but this time he was in the stands behind home plate at the Toronto Blue Jays World Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was Game 2.
It was a loss for the Jays but a big win for Wills who was hired by KFC to put in an appearance at the game to showcase the company's KFC Zinger sandwich.
The sandwich prompted a play on words in light of Blue Jay's George Springer hitting a turnaround three-run homer in Game 7 against the Mariners, a hit that was quickly dubbed Springer's Dinger.
KFC quickly jumped on with its own guerrilla marketing by renaming the KFC Zinger to the KFC Dinger.
“We changed the name of our iconic KFC Zinger sandwich to the Dinger, and sent the Colonel to Game 2 to hype that message,” said Azim Akhtar, the interim chief marketing officer of KFC Canada in a quote in the Toronto Star.
When Toronto hits a home run, fans can grab a free Dinger Sandwich on the KFC App with a $1 purchase the following day.
The media attention was instant as sports reporters, TV broadcasters and even home viewers all noticed "the colonel" in his second row seat just off to the right of home plate.
And he kept himself in character, too. In one television interview, the colonel mimicked a slight Kentucky accent and spoke about some World Series history moments.
As a six-footer wearing the bright white suit, Wills was easily one of the first things people noticed.
The Blue Jays Central website said there was widespread speculation that the colonel was there to throw shade on some of the Dodger's Japanese players, a reference to the Curse of the Colonel, a Japanese baseball legend tied to the 1980s Hanshin Tigers baseball team.
Blue Jays Central said the real reason for Wills' appearance was goodwill marketing. Wills told one news outlet he was pleased to represent KFC again and looks forward to future appearances.
Len Gillis is a reporter at Sudbury.com.