KFC and Comedy Central are teaming up for a first-of-its-kind comedic integration with Crank Yankers, produced in part by Jimmy Kimmel, now returning for its 6th season.
The segment, called “Buckethead,” recreates a real “crank call” made by Jimmy Kimmel to a local KFC restaurant as his elderly Crank Yankers (puppet) persona, Elmer Higgins. Elmer voiced his concerns about the “hats” KFC is giving out because they’re too tight. The KFC employee quickly realized that the customer on the other line had mistaken KFC’s signature bucket as a hat, and it was now stuck on his head, and hilarity ensued.
Jimmy Kimmel even wore a cardboard box on his head during this genuine crank call to create a realistic echo sound effect as if a KFC bucket was stuck on his head.
Set in the fictional town of Yankerville, Crank Yankers features real calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests that are then reenacted onscreen by puppets.
Episode 609 airs on June 30 at 10:30p EST, featuring Jimmy Kimmel, Bobby Brown, and Kyle Dunnigan.
This integration is just the latest in KFC’s out-of-the-box marketing integrations. Most recently, the brand premiered Lifetime’s first-ever holiday mini-movie, “A Recipe for Seduction” and launched a successful TikTok campaign with everyone’s internet grandma, Lili Hayes.