Mario Lopez will play KFC's longtime mascot Colonel Sanders in a steamy Lifetime channel holiday romance, the companies said on Monday, as marketing and entertainment converge to boost sales of the chain's fried chicken.
"A Recipe for Seduction" tells the story of a young chef with a secret fried chicken recipe who disrupts a woman's plan to marry off her heiress daughter to a handpicked suitor.
Lopez, known for his role in the TV series "Saved by the Bell" and as a host of entertainment news show "Extra," is featured in the film poster clad in Sanders' trademark white shirt, black tie, glasses and goatee and clutching a young woman in a red dress.
KFC, a unit of Yum! Brands Inc, urged viewers to curl up with a bucket of chicken to watch the 15-minute film, which will debut on the Lifetime cable network on Dec. 13.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Richard Chang)
