Cape Town, My City.

“Colonel Sander’s” fried chicken company has come under heavy attack in recent times – from animal rights organizations like PETA for the reported cruelty to the chickens, to health authorities who target the fast food as exceptionally bad for the arteries and heart.

But it seems the Colonel is still smiling – such a big smile it can be seen from space!

In a massive marketing venture, the revamped logo for KFC, featuring a trimmer-looking Colonel Sanders sporting a funky red apron, has been launched in the Nevada desert near top-secret Area 51.

It took over 3 000 hours, from start to finish, for Synergy, an event company hired for the job, to create the 87 500 square foot logo out of  65 000 tiles. These tiles are one-foot square and painted red, white, eggshell, beige and black.

The actual laying-out of these tiles tool six days.

KFC are claiming that this is the first brand logo to be visible from space, but a spate of protest has erupted on the Internet with examples of several other companies having achieved this in the past. Examples sited include Mattel, whose corporate headquarters’ logo has been visible on satellite photos for years.

Although there has been a fair amount of negative response from the general public, KFC should be more than happy about the amount of publicity this venture has sparked.

One wonders if ET will be dropping in for a KFC Streetwise meal anytime soon…