American chicken giant to feature professional poker players in television advertisement
Wednesday 29th August 2007
The world's most popular chicken restaurant chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), has announced that it has hired three professional poker players to help sell its products.
Gavin Smith, David Williams and Paul Wasicka will appear in KFC television advertisements on America’s ESPN cable television channel eating chicken while speaking about their ability to read people.
Poker player management, marketing and representation agency Poker Royalty, which represents all three players, called the commercial a breakthrough for the poker industry.
'This is a great step forward for Gavin, Paul, David and poker in general,' said Brian Balsbaugh, President of Poker Royalty. 'Having KFC, the leading chicken chain in the world, embracing poker signals that the poker industry is quickly emerging as a viable outlet for sponsors to achieve their marketing and advertising goals.'
This isn’t the first time that professional poker players have been used to market a national product on American television as Phil Hellmuth, Scott Nguyen and Daniel Negreanu all featured in a Diet Pepsi television advert last year playing poker unsuccessfully against a Diet Pepsi can.
Wasicka, the 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Champion, said that working with the Louisville-based chicken giant was a positive step in his career.
'I am very happy to be affiliated with KFC,' he said. 'This new relationship with KFC presents me with a fantastic opportunity to reach a broader base of fans. It was an honour to be asked to work with them.'
