Computer generated virtual influencers aren’t new. A number have appeared in social media, for example, Lil Miquela and Shudu.gram. The KFC creation is, however, rather different. He is (apparently) a youthful millionaire who jets about the world in a private plane while meditating on business success and personal happiness. Or, to put it another way, he is a pitch perfect parody of the annoyingly self-satisfied real life influencers who occupy so much of Instagram’s real estate.
The KFC character is, admittedly, an acquired taste. He has to be read as a joke, and even then it can be hard to take. (The general tone of readers’ comments on “his” postings aren’t exactly complimentary. #notmycolonel is a frequent posting.) And it is important to keep in mind that he is the product of a multi-million corporation that peddles fast food.
Still, you have to admire the technical skill with which he was created, and the fact that he so clever a parody. Perhaps, indeed, he is important. Even the companies that are making influencers rich perceive that more and more normal people are damn tired of the self-indulgent beauties who fill Instagram from end to end–and, maybe, of the materialism that makes them possible.
