The Iconic KFC Item That Was Actually Invented By A Wendy's Legend

Before opening up his own chain of fast food restaurants, legendary Wendy's founder Dave Thomas was a longtime employee of the Hobby House Restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana. And he was so good at his job that the owner of the restaurant, Phil Clauss, sent him to Columbus, Ohio, to help out a new fast food chain. Clauss had just bought a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, and four of his restaurants were failing. Dave arrived on the scene, met and became close with the actual Colonel Sanders, and started to turn everything around.

His ideas and suggestions became integral to KFC's success. It was actually Thomas who came up with the idea for KFC's iconic red-and-white-striped chicken buckets, as well as the illuminated rotating bucket signs outside of stores. Not only that, but he also suggested that the chain get more radio time (slimming down the menu to pay for this) and that the Colonel himself should star in KFC's commercials. This led to Clauss selling his KFC franchises to Thomas. So, before Wendy's, Thomas was actually a KFC franchisee and officially working for the Colonel.

Thomas was big on both brand recognition and relatability, which fueled many of these marketing ideas for KFC. The first applied greatly to the KFC bucket (and signage) itself — those red and white stripes were eye-catching, and people were sure to remember them. And the point of Sanders starring in his own commercials was the relatability factor. Thomas's marketing skills certainly worked — per the chain's website, the iconic KFC bucket is, to this day, recognized worldwide (as is the concept of Colonel Sanders himself, who truly became the mascot of KFC).

These ideas most likely influenced Thomas's own marketing when he eventually opened up Wendy's. After all, Thomas famously starred in many of the Wendy's commercials, named burgers after himself — such as Wendy's best burger, Dave's Single — and basically became a household name, just like Sanders. Both marketing plans involve showcasing the uniqueness of the restaurant and making it recognizable from other brands, which is probably why both Wendy's and KFC are, to this day, singular when it comes to brand recognition.