NEWS

Ultra Music Festival 2019: Marshmello, Herbobust & More React to KFC's Colonel Sanders DJ Set

3/30/2019 by Mitchell Peters

Paras Griffin/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Marshmello performs onstage during Power 96.1's Atlanta Jingle Ball  on Dec. 14, 2018 in Atlanta.

Kentucky Fried Chicken mascot Colonel Sanders made an unusual -- and controversial -- appearance at this year's Ultra Music Festival in Miami that's drawing some mixed reactions from EDM artists.

On the festival's opening day Friday (March 29), a real DJ wearing a helmet of Colonel Sanders' face walked onto the main stage and gave an awkward performance that left many fans scratching their heads. The promotional stunt also prompted numerous DJs and producers to react on social media.

Marshmello, who headlined Ultra on Friday night, didn't hold back his distaste for the incident. "This @kfc colonel sanders Djing at @ultra is lame. I can think of a lot of other artists that actually deserve to be on that stage instead," the DJ and producer tweeted.

Chicago-based DJ production duo Louis the Child also expressed their disapproval. "Given the platform you have as a major electronic festival, it would be nice if you used it to showcase what electronic music is about and not make it seem like a joke with corporate promotional nonsense," the group tweeted, tagging Ultra Music Festival.

But others took a more laid back, comical approach to KFC's promotional stunt.

"kfc & ultra woulda gotten way less heat (and more success) if they just made a helmet that looked like a piece of fried chicken and named the dj 'fryd chiken,'" Josh Pan joked in a tweet.

Herobust tweeted, "This is god damn hilarious on so many levels. I don’t care... I love it."

See more reactions to Colonel Sanders' Ultra DJ set below.