The question has come up:

DOES ANYONE ELSE find it ironic that Kentucky Fried Chicken is using a riff from Lynard Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” in their TV spots?

Is it possible that the ad wonks behind that “Chicken Capital USA” campaign can’t tell one Southern state from another? (Heck, there’s a whole other state between Alabama and Kentucky.) Or was “Old Kentucky Home” deemed to be not catchy enough to sell chicken?

I did chime in:

- The version of “Sweet Home” in the commercials is sliced-and-diced so that you never actually hear the lyrics “Sweet Home Alabama”. I daresay if you’re not into classic rock, you wouldn’t even know about the Alabama part. So it’s more of a hint of Southernness to it, minus any geographical confusion. But not really, because…

- Technically, the restaurant in question is no longer called “Kentucky Fried Chicken”, and hasn’t been for years. Corporate officially changed the name to strictly KFC in order to get away from any perceived regionalism/redneckedness. Yes, it’s a lame move, and in fact lots of franchises across the country still have “Kentucky” up on their outdated signs. But that’s the corporate line.

In a slightly related note, a friend tells me that KFCs in Holland have maps of the US on their walls, with Kentucky highlighted and a pointer arrow on it.

Really, what else can I add to that? Except that KFC is taking on China by storm. And I’ll bet most Chinese finger-lickin’-gooders have never even heard of Kentucky (although they find Colonel Sanders’ kindly elder visage to be vaguely Chinese enough to identify with).