It turns out that intense Internet sleuthing can occasionally pay off. Following Twitter user Mike Edgette’s viral discovery that the official KFC account only follows the five former Spice Girls and six men named Herb — a reference to the secret blend of 11 herbs and spices in Colonel Sanders’ fried chicken recipe — the fast food giant has rewarded Edgette with a priceless gift.
“@KFC follows 11 people,” he wrote in an October tweet that has been liked over 715,000 times and retweeted more than 322,000. “Those 11 people? 5 Spice Girls and 6 guys named Herb. 11 Herbs & Spices. I need time to process this.”
Now, Edgette has shared that KFC thanked him for his investigative work by commissioning a portrait of its founder giving him a piggyback ride through a beautiful woodland landscape. “Dreams DO come true,” he tweeted on Saturday alongside several shots of the glorious painting, adding the hashtag #GiddyUpColonel. “Thanks @kfc.”
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Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com