• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, May 4, 2017

For Mother’s Day, KFC and Wieden + Kennedy have unleashed yet another marketing effort designed to blow away traditional perceptions of Colonel Sanders.

This time, the brand is offering a free digital romance novella, set in Victorian England and featuring Harland Sanders, aka “the Colonel,” as the hunky hero — a “handsome sailor with a mysterious past.” 

Available on Amazon, the 92-page bodice-ripper is dubbed “Tender Wings of Desire.” 

KFC is suggesting that the family give mom the digital read in tandem with a family-sized $20 Fill Up bucket of its chicken, to give her a break from cooking and “some alone time with a captivating novella.”

KFC is using a teaser video (below) as part of its promotional push. It will also surprise 100 fans on Facebook with the chance to win dinner and a hard copy of the book.

Mother’s Day is KFC’s best-selling day of the year, according to the company, which reports that it serves some 380,000 families on the holiday.

The QSR’s irreverent, now two-years-old shape-shifting advertising approach to the Colonel has included several volleys of creative starring various comedians and actors as the brand’s iconic mascot. The current ads feature Rob Lowe dressed in a space suit to promote the chain’s new chicken sandwich offering.