The wedding snap that keeps on giving . . . chicken
No one does secrets like the Colonel.
So when Louis and Ashleigh Davis say they don’t know what KFC has in store for them on a whistle-stop tour of the fast-food giant’s headquarters in the US, it’s no surprise.
Just like the 11 herbs and spices that coat its chicken dishes, the itinerary for the Wellington couple is also cloaked in secret.
The pair won global attention and some serious KFC-love when they posed in front of the Whangarei store after their February wedding. They were rewarded with a year’s supply of KFC and the offer of a trip to the chain’s HQ in Kentucky, where Colonel Harland Sanders started the fried chicken empire in 1930.
The first part of the gift is already being enjoyed. The second will take place later this month, when the pair fly to Louisville.
“I’m so excited. They’ve obviously paid for flights, and they’re putting us up in a nice hotel,” said Louis Davis.
“We’re only there for a day. All I know is a driver is picking us up from the hotel and dropping us at the airport. They want to keep everything else a secret.”
The couple, who will spend a few weeks on honeymoon in Florida, the Bahamas and Mexico, had “moved on” from their famous photo, which also appeared on the cover of KFC’s annual report, he said.
But they knew the company would draw attention to it again. “They’ve been really cool. I’m going to be a good sport.”
The attention from the photo, taken after Davis begged his wife for one shot of his choice after their nuptials — still amazed him.
“I’ve still got 500 unreplied messages from media outlets on my Facebook. It was in the New York Times, Huffington Post. It was on talk shows. It’s crazy.” The couple received a $400 cheque from an Australian magazine after it published the photo.
Davis, a residential co-ordinator at Massey University’s Wellington campus, used the tale as an ice-breaker when he spoke to high school students. “They had all seen the photo.”
And despite having a year’s supply of KFC on tap, he was yet to tire of its greasy goodness. But he had pegged back his three-times-aweek habit, he said.
“I’ve got to get this body ready for Mexico.”