An old plastic statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders has been disposed, the chain said Tuesday, ending the role it played as a lucky symbol since being recovered decades after it was tossed into a river in the 1980s.
The life-size statue was also known for the "Curse of the Colonel" after the incident in which jubilant baseball fans threw it into the Dotombori River in Osaka during the 1985 championship run of the local favorite Hanshin Tigers. The team failed to win another Japan Series title until last year, when it ended a 38-year drought.
KFC Holdings Japan said the statue went through a ritual that is typically held for the repose of the souls of old dolls at Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine in the city on March 8.
Takayuki Hanji, president of the company, attended the ritual and offered sake along with the chain's fried chicken, the Yokohama-based company said, noting that the statue "contributed to raising the value of our brand name."
The statue was originally located at a now-closed KFC restaurant near the river. On the night the Tigers clinched the Central League pennant in October 1985, excited fans hoisted the statue in the air while shouting the name of the team's slugger Randy Bass, and ended up throwing it into the water.
In March 2009, the statue was discovered in the river during construction work, with its glasses and left hand missing. After being repaired, it was displayed at a branch of the company in Osaka and used for events.