Artists react to KFC’s Colonel Sanders five-minute main stage set at Ultra

Ultra‘s first iteration on Miami’s Virginia Key certainly experienced a few hiccups this year. Growing pains are to be expected for any major venue move, but no one could have expected the outrage many artists are showering onto the festival for a certain business decision.

The outrage is over KFC’s mascot, Colonel Sanders, who held a paid five-minute slot in the middle of the afternoon on Ultra’s mainstage. As the advertising slot has blown into an “any press is good press” type situation, the promotional tactic was criticized by a number of artists, including Louis The Child and Alison Wonderland, who got into a back-and-forth dialogue with 3lau.

Meanwhile, a few artists stopped in to give some less-than-substantive remarks, while Chris Lake merely poked fun at the decision, calling it “Ultra Fast Food Festival.” Luca Lush called the move “a glorified PR stunt that rips on rave culture,” while Golf Clap chimed in equating it to “a Black Mirror episode” and “the next evolution in masked/helmet DJs.”

The artists’ most resounding critiques collectively shunned Ultra for holding one of the world’s most visible platforms in the electronic music scene, and yet choosing to host corporate fast food advertising when they should be promoting hardworking, rising artists who don’t have a platform. While artists like 3lau bring up that Ultra may have needed the money to pay off legal expenses, it’s still a move that left a bad taste in the mouths of many, nonetheless.

There’s a reason we call it Sausage Fattener and not Chicken Fattener.
🌭😂🌭
@kfc if you want a license of Sausage Fattener, just DM us yeah. pic.twitter.com/3ctQjgHIhk

— Dada Life (@dadalife) March 30, 2019

I don’t want people to overlook the countless hours of work Colonel Sanders has put in the studio

Dreams aren’t made overnight guys 🙏

— 🏆 VALENTINO KHAN 🏆 (@ValentinoKhan) March 30, 2019

in 2020 siri and alexa will headline ultra

— bleep bloop (@bleepbloopbass) March 30, 2019

This right here is really fucking irritating if I’m being honest https://t.co/LHWSoAEeD0

— CRANKDAT (@crankdat) March 30, 2019

The booker for ultra once told me they use algorithms to figure out who to book, now they made that crossover into djs completely generated by algorithms. Its the logical progression

— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo) March 30, 2019

playing ultra music festival today!!! big day for me personally, it has always been a dream of mine to share the stage with legendary artists like *checks notes* kfc

— G JONES (@gjonesbass) March 30, 2019