Over the past few years, a rotating cast of celebrities have portrayed KFC’s founder Colonel Sanders. To launch KFC’s new Smoky Mountain BBQ during the GRAMMYs, we wanted a celebrity Colonel who could sing, act, and was broadly appealing, just like KFC’s new BBQ flavor.

So we introduced our first ever female Colonel: country music legend Reba McEntire.

The launch of Colonel Reba generated nearly 2 billion earned impressions—triple the amount of earned coverage when compared to any of our previous Colonels—and earned coverage everywhere from Good Morning America and Late Night to Funny Or Die and Broad City.

To add a layer to our search, the launch of the campaign was planned for the GRAMMYs, making an ideal celebrity one who could sing, dance, and act. So we introduced our first ever female Colonel: country music legend Reba McEntire. In addition to delivering against everything we were looking for, Reba also brought a sense of Southern credibility to the product.

Since she added a musical element, it allowed us to create spots that featured original songs sung by Reba and settings that played into the music theme, particularly in the launch spot that features a Honky Tonk bar—a type of dive bar known for country music and dancing.