Why KFC won't follow Wendy's on Twitter but does follow the Spice Girls and 6 others

Fried chicken giant KFC likes to do bits.

That’s why the company keeps shuffling actors and comedians, from Darryl Hammond, to Norm Macdonald to Rob Riggle, then to Rob Lowe and Billy Zane to Ray Liotta, to play the Colonel in their chicken commercials.

But KFC’s latest bit is more subtle. You have to pay close attention to catch it.

It starts with the chicken giant’s list of what, at first glance, seems to be 11 oddly specific accounts for the restaurant to follow on Twitter.

Take a second look and you might notice that five of them are the Spice Girls. Maybe the social media administrators at KFC were just really big fans?

But then, if you look even closer, the six men that KFC follows also have something in common: they’re all notable “Herbs.”

There’s Herb Alpert, the jazz musician, and Herb Sendek, the head men’s basketball coach at Santa Clara University, alongside an L.A. City Councilman, a mixed martial arts referee, a newspaper writer and a football player, whose names are all Herb.

The newspaper writer seems to be the only one of the 11 who has caught on so far.

Then comes the moment you realize that KFC has just played the long game on one of the most diabolical, yet cutest, jokes on the social media universe. Because, yes, the fabled KFC chicken recipe, though the Colonel guards the exact mix with his life, consists of 11 herbs and spices. They’re freaking following 11 Herbs and Spices, guys.

Twitter user @edgette22 was apparently the one who struck internet gold Thursday by putting five and six together. We need time to process, too, @edgette22.

Slow clap for KFC. Well played.

About the only folks who don’t appreciate the clever ruse are at Wendy’s, where they’ve been waiting in vain for KFC to follow them back for, like, ever.

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Why KFC won't follow Wendy's on Twitter but does follow the Spice Girls and 6 others."