Is "Astro-tising" the Next Big Thing?

When KFC wanted to remake their brand's image last fall, they decided to think big...really big. So they had workers assemble painted tiles into a gigantic image of Colonel Sanders in the Nevada desert.

The 87,500-square-foot of the Colonel was put together so it could be photographed from space by GeoEye's Ikonos satellite. The Chicago Tribune quotes Mark Brender, a spokesman for GeoEye as saying that the project is part of a new trend they call "astro-tising". The new KFC image was unveiled to coincide with the company's announcement of a campaign to modernize its restaurants.

Despite the logistical challenges and worries that cloudy weather could obscure the image, Mr. Brender told the Tribune you can expect to see more companies using the ploy. "We will look for the right opportunities and certainly be responsive to any company that calls and wants satellite imagery over their facilities or over their brand or their trademark, as long as we can see it from space," he said. GeoEye charged KFC about $2,000 for the job.

Image courtesy of The Edge of I-Hacked.