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---
title: EXO Sparks Viral Colonel Sanders Theory at Closing Ceremony
description: EXO showed up to the Olympics Closing Ceremony in white suits the internet couldn&#x27;t help but compare to KFC&#x27;s Colonel Sanders.
canonical: https://time.com/5174891/exo-olympics-closing-ceremony-internet-reactions-kfc/
author: Ashley Hoffman
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2018-02-26T02:34:54.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:50:54.987Z
og:title: The Internet Thinks It&#x27;s EXO Dresses Like Colonel Sanders
og:description: They&#x27;re convinced they dress exactly like the fried chicken mascot
og:url: https://time.com/5174891/exo-olympics-closing-ceremony-internet-reactions-kfc/
og:site_name: TIME
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og:image:width: 3643
og:image:height: 2049
og:image:alt: EXO &quot;The ElyXiOn&quot; world tour concert
og:type: article
twitter:card: summary_large_image
twitter:title: The Internet Thinks It&#x27;s EXO Dresses Like Colonel Sanders
twitter:description: They&#x27;re convinced they dress exactly like the fried chicken mascot
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09f9b91637cac342/698928df096a949f5a6a1a29/gettyimages-917207724.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=1200&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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# The Internet Thinks EXO Dressed Like Colonel Sanders for the Olympics Closing Ceremony

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by 

[Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/)


## Ashley Hoffman


Feb 26, 2018 2:34 AM UTC

![EXO "The ElyXiOn" world tour concert](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09f9b91637cac342/698928df096a949f5a6a1a29/gettyimages-917207724.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

TAIWAN, CHINA - FEBRUARY 10: (CHINA MAINLAND OUT)EXO "The ElyXiOn" world tour concert on 10th February, 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan, China.(Photo by TPG/Getty Images)

TAIWAN, CHINA - FEBRUARY 10: (CHINA MAINLAND OUT)EXO "The ElyXiOn" world tour concert on 10th February, 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan, China.(Photo by TPG/Getty Images) TPG—Getty Images

by 

[Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/)


## Ashley Hoffman


Feb 26, 2018 2:34 AM UTC

Don’t get too comfy in that Colonel Sanders role [Reba McEntire](http://time.com/5120101/kfc-announces-first-female-colonel-sanders-reba-mcentire/), because the performers at the 2018 Winter Olympics really look the part.

If a pop sensation group looks anything remotely like a well-known food mascot, don’t think for a second that [the internet will let it slide](http://time.com/5109471/millie-bobby-brown-lookalike-natalie-portman/). That was the case on Sunday when wildly popular [K-pop group EXO](http://time.com/5124176/best-k-pop-artists/) arrived to the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in white suits with black accents.

Everyone knows the Colonel as the smooth-talking mascot modeled after the KFC franchise founder. The nine-member, hip-hop flavored, sensational group EXO, which [rivals BTS in popularity](http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/32019/1/the-nine-koreans-who-make-up-the-world-s-biggest-boyband), is also world-famous, albeit for sick beats and claiming their own alien personas with superpowers.

Unsurprisingly, EXO’s avid fan base went nuts over the fact that their favorites were performing at Sunday’s Olympics Closing Ceremony. While meeting Ivanka Trump might’ve been the day’s photographic highlight for the band, that wasn’t all the internet obsessed over when it came to their pictures.

People thought their getups were strikingly similar to the formal attire that the Colonel wears, and the internet couldn’t get enough about the stylistic similarities between the KFC mascot and the K-pop band. The observation raged like wildfire on Twitter, with users agreeing the resemblance is uncanny.

So what to do with the fact that EXO may or may not look to the Southern gentleman and fried chicken lifer as a style muse? Get the brain trust together to come up with an EXO jingle for KFC’s finger lickin’ goodness? Or maybe the Korean franchises should release nine new sauces based on EXO’s various alien personas?


Whatever the next move is, here’s how the internet juxtaposed the Colonel and EXO.

> [](https://twitter.com/cheesey%5Fj/status/967728065383227393)

> [](https://twitter.com/ultminseok99/status/967722906137477120)

> [](https://twitter.com/Lookmai%5Fexo/status/967794207166353409)


> [](https://twitter.com/jdkimji/status/967775062425153538)

> [](https://twitter.com/kimkaisuniverse/status/967737911750705152)

> [](https://twitter.com/jdkimji/status/967775062425153538)

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