KFC is replacing its Colonel Sanders logo in an unprecedented move

• KFC Malaysia is celebrating International Women's Day by swapping Colonel Sander's face with that of his wife. 
• Claudia Sanders is Colonel Harland Sanders' second wife, who previously worked as a waitress at his restaurant and helped him turn KFC into an international empire. 

KFC locations in Malaysia are celebrating International Women's Day by replacing Colonel Sanders in the chain's marketing. 

On Thursday, KFC Malaysia announced it would swap the illustration of The Colonel with his wife, Claudia. 

"It is hard to imagine but KFC would not be where it is today if not for Claudia, wife of Colonel Sanders,"the chain's website reads. "While the Colonel created the secret recipe and ran the company, Mrs Sanders mixed and even shipped the spices to restaurants across the country — often late into the night."

Some people found the logo swap to be eye-roll inducing. 

Claudia Sanders, nee Claudia Ledington, was Colonel Harland Sanders' second wife. The pair met when she was a waitress at Sanders' first restaurant, Sanders Cafe, and began their affair while Sanders was still married to his first wife. 

Claudia and Harland Sanders wed in 1949. She was crucial to KFC's success, helping Colonel Sanders build KFC into an international brand. 

While KFCs in the US aren't swapping Colonel Sanders face for that of his wife, the chain also featured a female colonel in its homeland recently. 

In January, the chicken chain announced that its newest version of Colonel Sanders would be played by country music icon Reba McEntire— the first female Colonel Sanders. 

KFC isn't the only fast-food chain putting the spotlight on women this International Women's Day. 

A McDonald's location in Lynwood, California turned its golden-arches sign upside down earlier this week in honor of International Women's Day. On Thursday, the fast-food chain debuted the flipped arches on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Responses to McDonald's flipped logo were mixed, with some people wishing that the fast-food chain had made more concrete actions to help women who work at the company. 

SEE ALSO: McDonald's is flipping its iconic golden arches upside down in 'celebration of women' — and people are freaking out

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The rise and fall of Hooters Air — the airline that lost the 'breastaurant' $40 million