posted 11-14-2006 11:16 PM               

1999
To promote the debut of its revised logo, Pizza Hut paid "about half the price of a 30-second television ad during the Super Bowl" to plaster a 30-foot (9-meter) version of their new emblem on the side of the Russian Proton rocket that carried the International Space Station's Zvezda service module. The pizza-maker expanded their space marketing tie-in in 2001 with the flight of a salami-topped personal pie to the crew of the International Space Station.

2001
Taco Bell created a 40 by 40-foot target, painted with a Bell bull's-eye and purple letters stating: "Free Taco Here." The floating target was placed in the South Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia. Taco Bell offered a free taco to everyone in the United States if the reentering core of the Mir space station hit the target. It missed.

2004
Long John Silver's announced that it would give everyone in America free Giant Shrimp if NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers found conclusive evidence of an ocean on Mars by February 29, 2004. On March 23, NASA announced evidence of the past presence of "a body of gently flowing saltwater" on Mars, leading to the promised Long John Silver's shrimp giveaway.

That same year, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants offered NASA-themed kid's meals and toys.

2006
Kentucky Fried Chicken release

KFC Corporation became the world's first brand visible from outer space by unveiling a record-breaking 87,500 square feet, updated Colonel Sanders logo in the Area 51 desert. The event marks the official debut of a massive global re-image campaign that will contemporize 14,000-plus KFC restaurants in over 80 countries over the next few years.

KFC's new fresh look updates one of the most recognized, respected and beloved brand icons in the world and spans all visual elements from logo to restaurant design, advertising, packaging, uniforms and more.

The new logo depicts Colonel Sanders with his signature string tie, but for the first time, replaces his classic white, double-breasted suit with a red apron. The apron symbolizes the home-style culinary heritage of the brand and reminds customers that KFC is always in the kitchen cooking delicious, high-quality, freshly prepared chicken by hand, just the way Colonel Sanders did 50 years ago.

"The Colonel is truly a global icon and we want everyone in the universe to see KFC's new look of the future," said Gregg Dedrick, president of KFC Corp. "KFC is boldly going where no brand has gone before as Colonel Sanders takes one small step for humankind, but one giant leap for fried chicken."

The giant Colonel Sanders logo was built off The World's Only Extraterrestrial Highway in Rachel, Nevada, also known as the "UFO Capital of the World," and the epicenter of inter-galactic communication.

"If there are extraterrestrials in outer space, KFC wants to become their restaurant of choice. For now, we'll be very content satisfying the entire human population with our Finger Lickin' Good Chicken. Besides, who knows if extraterrestrials even have fingers? If we hear back from a life form in space today - whether NASA astronauts or a signal from some life form on Mars - we'll send up some Original Recipe Chicken," said Dedrick.

Earthlings can join in the fun by visiting www.kfc.com to see the huge logo and have a chance to win by spotting the Colonel's secret message hidden within the Area 51 desert logo. The first 10,000 sharp-eyed KFC fans to correctly identify the secret message and post the answer at www.kfc.com will win a certificate for a free KFC Snacker sandwich.

The Colonel's Top Secret Mission
The massive logo, which was referred to as the "Face from Space" by the project team, is so large it dwarfs one of America's largest and most famous landmarks - Mt. Rushmore. The huge carved faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln would all fit easily in the "Face from Space." There would even be enough room left over for a fifth presidential face in the Colonel Sanders logo!

It took a team of nearly 50 designers, engineers, scientists (including astrophysicists), architects and other professionals working nearly three months to conceive, create and execute building the world's largest logo.

The "Face from Space" took more than 3,000 hours to create from inception to launch and was built by Synergy, a leading event company.

The logo consists of 65,000 one-foot by one-foot painted tile pieces that were assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle: 6,000 red, 14,000 white, 12,000 eggshell, 5,000 beige and 28,000 black.

The logo took 24 days, working around-the-clock, to manufacture and ultimately produce. It then took six days on site to construct the logo, during which time the logo design pieces were kept hidden and under cover from identified and unidentified flying objects.

Area 51's secretive nature and link to classified aircraft research and reports of unusual phenomena, have led it to become the centerpiece of modern UFO and conspiracy theory. Other key activities associated with Area 51 include rumors of meetings with extraterrestrials, the development of time travel technology and the storage, examination and reverse engineering of crashed alien spacecraft (including material supposedly recovered at Roswell, NM).

Due to the unprecedented nature of the project, the team endured numerous twists and turns along the way including a freak torrential downpour that rendered the original site inaccessible. The first location was in the flatlands of Utah near the home of the very first KFC restaurant.

A state-of-the-art GEO satellite captured the image of the logo as it circled the earth at an altitude of 423 miles. To see an image of the logo go www.kfc.com This is only the fourth time in more than 50 years that the logo has changed.