Country Strong

WHY BRANDS LIKE KFC, BUDWEISER, WAFFLE HOUSE AND MORE ARE BUZZING ABOUT COUNTRY MUSIC.

- Kristina Monllos

Reba McEntire had to get used to the feel of a mustache on her face to play Colonel Sanders. The first woman and first musician to embody Colonel Sanders, as part of Wieden + Kennedy’s ongoing celebrity colonel campaign, McEntire put on the spokescharacter’s famous white suit, mustache and goatee this past December to film a 60-second spot and sing a honky-tonk song to promote a new BBQ chicken dish. “I got a big kick out of the transformation and wearing the wig,” McEntire previously told Adweek. “The hardest part was when they said to me, ‘We want you to eat this piece of chicken while you’re the Colonel,’ and I looked at them and I looked at the band and they had mustaches and I said, ‘How do y’all eat with the mustache?’”

Using McEntire, one of the most famous faces in country music, to promote chicken might seem like a natural first for KFC. And it is. But it’s also part of a growing trend: Country is having a moment, and KFC’s move comes at a time when brands like Nissan, Forever 21, Citibank, Barefoot Wine and cosmetics company Too Faced see country artists and their fans as a not-to-be missed opportunity to tap.

Just look at this year’s South by Southwest. The festival, which takes place March 9-17 in Austin, Texas, will see a solo-branded country music showcase. While the lineup of Sony Music Nashville hit makers is diverse—Elle King, Kane Brown and Old Crow Medicine Show— on March 15, when fans descend upon the stage at Fair Market in Austin, they’ll only see one brand name: Budweiser.