KFC Made a VR Game, And It's Deliciously Strange

The most surprising about KFC's new The Hard Way VR escape room is not that it exists—in 2017 all the brands want to share fun goofs with their friend the customer—but that it's genuinely and delightfully witty. The Hard Way isn't available to the public right now and according to a press release it's actually part of a training initiative at KFC, but it's obviously a very good piece of marketing whatever KFC says officially. From an overdone trailer featuring the the requisite "Haunting Cover of a Popular Song"—a nonsensical "I Think We're Alone Now" dirge—to a version of Colonel Sanders that mixes Hal Holbrook intonation with Stephen Root delivery, The Hard Way is consistently weird and charming.

You could be forgiven for thinking this might be some kind of PETA-sponsored parody, given the slightly ghoulish Col. Sanders wheezing and coughing over a loudspeaker, and the unappetizing, rubbery pieces of chicken that the character inspects during this playthrough video. Additionally, the detail of having the player ringed by security cameras is a little too familiar to anyone who has worked a service job.

On the other hand, how adorable is it that the robot helper is wearing a Col. Sanders necktie? I also have to admit I started getting caught up in the procedure of making fried chicken—with its meticulous attention to detail—and actually found myself googling "pressure frying."