© KFC
The Kentucky-based fast-food restaurant chain announced the change on Monday in a playful news release where KFC declared itself the "winner of the award for the most inappropriate slogan for 2020."
"Think we can all agree, this year has been like no other and, right now, our slogan doesn't feel quite right," the company said. "So, for that reason, we'll be pressing pause on using it in our advertising, for a little while."
The change in advertising will affect its more than 20,000 stores worldwide, but KFC stressed that the slogan will return "when the time is right."
In the United States, there have been roughly 5.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 177,000 related deaths.
"We find ourselves in a unique situation — having an iconic slogan that doesn't quite fit in the current environment. While we are pausing the use of It's Finger Lickin' Good, rest assured the food craved by so many people around the world isn't changing one bit," said Catherine Tan-Gillespie, KFC's global chief marketing officer.
This is not the first time KFC changed marketing tactics during the coronavirus pandemic. In March, the company nixed an ad that showed a series of close-up shots of customers licking their fingers as "Nocturnes" by Fredric Chopin plays.
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