The fast-food chain formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken has spent the past few years rebranding itself with a parade of ever more whimsical and absurd takes on Col. Sanders and its product line and abbreviating itself to just KFC.
Who can forget the infamous Double Down, the chicken sandwich that used even more chicken for buns? It was a sandwich…without bread. High concept, high cholesterol, high PR win.
Who can forget the nightmare fuel that was 2017’s Robot Col. Sanders?
H.A.R.L.A.N.D. uses speech recognition, artificial intelligence technology and text-to-speech techniques to transform a KFC drive-thru operator’s voice into the unmistakable drawl of Colonel Sanders. Because H.A.R.L.A.N.D. repeats whatever the drive-thru operator speaks, customers can have unique and interactive conversations just as they would with the real Colonel Sanders.
“What better way to celebrate National Fried Chicken Day than by ordering KFC from the Colonel himself?” says George Felix, KFC U.S. director of advertising.
“Absolutely terrifying” comes to mind. But, it was a PR win. People were talking about that robot. Some people were also running away from it.
Who can forget — more importantly, who actually read — KFC’s take on the romance novel, Tender Wings of Desire? Once that cover has been seen it can’t be unseen. You’ve been warned.
Chicken-scented sunscreen, KFC clothing, chicken in space…that crazy colonel has done it all.
In 2018 KFC launched KFC Gaming on social media, complete with “finger clickin’ good” branding. It appeared to be another one of the company’s merry little pranks that just might intrude on reality. When KFC started teasing about a chicken-branded gaming console to compete with the likes of Sony’s PS5 and whatever Microsoft calls its latest iteration of the Xbox (honestly, Microsoft, would it kill you to come up with a comprehensible naming convention?), it seemed like a doubling-down on the prank. The suggestion that the console would include a chicken warmer inside kicked the silly shenanigans up a notch.
But maybe not. Check this out.
The console wars are 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓.
Introducing the KFConsole. #PowerYourHunger pic.twitter.com/k7AM6g61Ip
— KFC Gaming (@kfcgaming) December 22, 2020
And this.
See it for yourself. Find out more about the new #KFConsole @CoolerMaster: https://t.co/omZWuIhBG8 pic.twitter.com/6n5panSJIs
— KFC Gaming (@kfcgaming) December 22, 2020
That link goes here, which is a website that includes actual hardware specs to go inside the sleek black bucket.
The KFConsole has arrived. Forged from the fires of the KFC ovens and built by Cooler Master from the ground up, there has never been a tastier way to experience the latest titles in stunning 4k, 240fps.
Its specs include:
- VR Ready
- Ray Tracing
- 240FPS with 240Hz Output
- 4K-TV Gaming
Under the hood, it sports an NVMe SSD and two Seagate 1TB SSD. It’s powered by the Intel Nuc 9 9th gen i9 and ASUS hot-swappable graphics processor.
That’s legit. I have an NVMe drive in one of my machines and it’s blazing fast. The bucket will also be upgradable.
Sony’s PS5 just manages 120FPS. Likewise for the Xbox Series X. The KFConsole doubles down on that frame rate.
The KFConsole is also designed by Cooler Master, a well-regarded gaming computer component maker. CM’s CEO confirms:
Yes it's real. Yes, it's powered by Intel. And yes, it has a chicken warmer. 😅 #KFConsole #IntelGaming pic.twitter.com/WniXumUZZ2
— Mark Walton (@markalexwalton) December 22, 2020
And yes, it has a built-in chicken warmer.
The KFConsole has no confirmed release date. If you add up the cost of the parts, the KFConsole won’t be cheap. It will cost more than the latest-gen PS and Xbox consoles. It will presumably not be a true “console” with a dedicated game pipeline, it’ll be a high-end gaming PC shaped like a bucket. This means its competition will be the likes of Alienware, ROG, and other gaming PC makers.
A gaming PC that will keep your chicken or whatever else warm while you game until the chicken runs out. With specs that crush the gaming console generations that just hit the market.
It’s insane. So insane it’s beautiful.
If it’s not real, it should be.
I volunteer to review it, KFC. Just sayin’.
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