Oh lordy. I wonder if this is some kind of joke, or if it’s true?
The Telegraph reports that Google has blurred the image of Colonel Sanders on KFC signs in the UK, on the basis that he’s a real person.
The company says it took the decision because he is ‘a real person’ – despite him passing away in December 1980 aged 90.
If it’s true, then can I just say: IDIOTS!
1. It’s a cartoon image, not a photographic likeness.
2. He’s been dead for 29 years.
3. What, you think we won’t know who it is? “Hey, who’s that on the KFC sign?” “Dunno, could be any southern American military guy who knows about chicken.”
4. Are they doing the same for cartoons and photos of real people on billboards and the like?
5. How is the late Colonel’s privacy being spoilt if people could see the cartoon image of his face? Hasn’t the horse already bolted on that, given the image of him is up on thousands of KFC outlets all over the planet?
Of course, it could be that the whole story is a crock.
Or maybe they just haven’t implemented their policy (whatever it is) very well.
The reason I offer these two possibilities is that I found this unobscured KFC sign, and this one too, both in London.
Certainly it appears the Colonel in Australia is freely visible:
If they did institute such a policy in Australia, I wonder what they’d do about other cartoon face logos, especially of people who are still alive. Dick Smith is one who springs to mind, though now I think about it, I think they’re phasing out use of his face on their signs and literature.
Is it possible that they use an automatic face recognition process and it accidentally picked the cartoon face on the KFC sign?
If it is manual, I suspect it’s a joke otherwise it would have been done for all the KFC signs wouldn’t it?
Maybe they’re having a go at all those TV shows that blur every single logo or slogan they can find on the objects they film, and it appears as though they only show a logo if the company owning that logo has paid for it to be shown. For example, Mythbusters blurs the logos on the cars the people drive. You’ll see them roll up in a Volkswagen van with a blurred badge. They blur logos on T-shirts lest we figure out what brand it is and buy it.
On shows like Supernanny there’ll be blurred cereal box lettering and car logos too. It’s pathetic.