Game 2 of the 2025 World Series will go down in history as KFC Canada doing something the Toronto Blue Jays were not able to do.
Hit a game winning dinger!
It was Colonel Sanders himself who delivered it from behind the plate. And what a shot it was. A grand slam!
This was a Zinger!
Yes, the mystery has been solved for those wondering why the likeness of the Colonel was seated in the second row behind home plate at the Rogers Centre . Turns out it was in honour of the Springer Dinger in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series when George Springer’s three-run homer put the Jays in the World Series.
A SHOT HEARD AROUND WORLD
But it was done in such a stealth way that it created a mystery noticed all over the globe.
Yes, this game winning Dinger was a Zinger by @kfc_canada and Colonel Sanders at Game 2 of the #WorldSeries between the @BlueJays and @Dodgers at the @RogersCentre Saturday night pic.twitter.com/z9MwVBugNu
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) October 26, 2025
Some thought it was a statement to Japanese players, referencing the legendary Curse of the Colonel folklore, dating decades to the Hanshin Tigers inability to win a championship before finally doing so in 2023.
But it had nothing to do with Japanese baseball. What it ended up being was a marketing play.
A brilliant one at that.
TURNS OUT THIS WAS ABOUT A CHICKEN SANDWICH
“KFC sent the Colonel himself to Game 2 to kick off its newest offer — and to cheer Toronto on from the stands,” said Tony Koutoulas, an account director for Narrative X PR, which handles KFC’s Canadian advertising endeavours.
“As part of the celebration, KFC has renamed its iconic Zinger Sandwich (the) Dinger Sandwich for a limited time, feeding the fandom as baseball fever takes over the country,” Tony told me. “To keep the energy going, KFC is serving up a Free Dinger Sandwich through the KFC App the day after any Toronto home run with a $1 purchase.”
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Most of the time it seemed to be a guy dressed as the Colonel, in his white southern suit, string tie and rimmed glasses to go with his white hair and goatee.
But there was one time the camera caught him holding up a sign showcasing the Zinger Dinger.
“KFC Canada is stepping up to the plate to celebrate one of the most exciting moments in Canadian baseball history, with even the Colonel himself spotted cheering from the stands in Game 2,” said a news release sent out late Sunday. “In a nod to the season’s biggest hit that had fans across the country buzzing, KFC renamed its fan-favourite Zinger Sandwich to the Dinger Sandwich for a limited time. The Zinger you love, now the Dinger — in support of Toronto.”
GEDDY LEE, SUPERFAN NAV BHATIA AND COLONEL SANDERS
But it sure had a lot of people talking. Many theories were thrown out of why the Colonel was sitting up in the section where Rush’s Geddy Lee often sits and very close to where Raptors Superfan Nav Bhatia was seated.
Mystery solved. It was all about a celebrating a chicken sandwich to celebrate an iconic home run. Who knew?
And the guy who was sitting there was none other than Sudbury and North Bay actor Rob Willis, who has played this role terrifically in the past. He’s done TV spots as the Colonel which seems fitting since Harland Sanders himself actually lived in Mississauga until his death in 1980.
But this move was slick. Strategic and witty and whimsical. It wasn’t hi tech.
They just got a ticket down behind the camera and sent their guy into watch the game dressed as Colonel Sanders and got millions of dollars in free publicity and engagement by doing so.
Marketing classes will study this winning swing.
THE COLONEL SPICED UP GAME
“When the nation’s baseball fever hit new heights, we knew we had to step up to the plate with something just as bold,” said Azim Akhtar, interim chief marketing officer, KFC Canada. “We decided to change the name of our iconic Zinger sandwich to the Dinger, as our way of feeding that Canadian baseball fandom, celebrating the hits, the hype and the moments that bring fans together.”
They achieved it and even have other fast-food empires crying fowl with jealousy. Wonder how they will try to match it?
As the World Series goes into Game 3 in Los Angeles, few will deny the highlight of Game 2 was not the Jays performance on the field but how Colonel Sanders spiced things up with a Dinger noticed on TV screens around the world and talked about long after the game was over.
