As part of its “So Good” ad campaign, which debuted in June of last year, Louisville, Ky.-based KFC recently has been making actors out of its cooks by featuring them in company commercials. Now the chain also has elevated one of its most dedicated cooks to c-suite level, so to speak.
KFC, which is owned by Yum! Brands Inc., in June announced the promotion of longtime cook Aaron Person to “chief chicken officer,” a role the 15,000-plus-unit chain says will be instrumental in its forthcoming Cook Certification Program. As part of the program, Person will appear in training videos that will reinforce to KFC cooks across the nation the best way to hand-prepare the company’s signature Original Recipe chicken.
According to KFC, Person faced stiff in-house competition from more than 5,000 U.S. cooks up for the job. But ultimately the decorated KFC veteran, who once received a perfect score for his chicken preparation in a company competition and earlier this year was singled out for his “outstanding product” by KFC president John Cywinski, won the honor. KFC’s chief marketing officer, Barry Westrum, answered questions about the new position and the future of other possible head-food-officer roles in the company.
Hometown: Monterey Park, Calif.
Education: B.A. in communications/advertising from California State University, Fullerton
Age: 46
Personal: wife, Stacy; two daughters, Samantha and Katherine
Hobbies: baseball, “my kids’ sports” and, recently, NASCAR
Career highlights: leading Taco Bell’s brand marketing function through Why Pay More! menu launch and Frutista Freeze; being named dean of Yum! Know-How & Innovation Center in June 2008; being named chief marketing officer for A&W and Long John Silver’s in December 2009; developing strong brand identity and menu vision for each concept; being named chief marketing officer for KFC U.S.A. in February 2011.
What exactly is a chief chicken officer?
It’s a newly created position that will serve as the spokesman for the rollout of KFC’s new Cook Certification Program. Thousands of KFC cooks across the country will participate in this initiative as we work to ensure each and every restaurant location continues to maintain the quality Colonel Sanders demanded more than 70 years ago.
Why did you feel Aaron Person was right for the position?
In his 25 years as a cook for KFC, Aaron has demonstrated not only a passion for cooking the world’s best chicken, but also a desire to help train other cooks on how to prepare KFC chicken “the hard way” — the way Colonel Sanders cooked it.
Why was now the right time to create this role?
Our advertising features real cooks — not actors — and we’re reminding our customers that KFC chicken is freshly prepared throughout the day by a certified cook in our thousands of restaurants across the country.
Do you see this paving the way for other chief food officers? Are we going to see a chief cole slaw officer?
There may not be another restaurant chain anywhere that has more dedicated fans of side dishes than KFC. The passion our customers have for our mashed potatoes, cole slaw and biscuits — and the passion our employees have for preparing them — certainly leaves the door open for another position. Maybe we need a CSIO — a chief side items officer.
Contact Vanessa Van Landingham at vanessa.vanlandingham@penton.com.
