Sterling crowned Miss KFC So Good 2012

Madonna Sterling has been crowned ‘Miss KFC So Good 2012’.

An employee at the fast food restaurant for the past 6 years, Sterling said that she is happy to have won the inaugural event, which took place on Sunday at the KFC outlet at Arnos Vale.{{more}}

The KFC 1 employee, who was dubbed ‘Ms Original’ on the night of the show, beat out four other competitors: Suzette McKie, ‘Ms Hot Wings’ of KFC 2; Kethora Antoine, ‘Ms Zinger’ of KFC 3; Gia-Marie Burgin, ‘Ms Hot and Spicy’ of the KFC Office and Jael Matthews, ‘Ms Biscuit’ of the KFC depot in Campden Park.

“I always wanted to enter a queen show, seeing that I have four girls,” Sterling told SEARCHLIGHT, immediately following her winning performance.

It was almost a clean sweep for the mother of five, as she copped the ‘Best Introduction’, ‘Best Sportswear’ and ‘Best Talent’ categories.

The ‘Best Costume’ category went to Ms Hot and Spicy, Burgin, with Antoine taking the ‘Best Interview’ segment.

Burgin, ‘Ms Hot and Spicy’ took the third spot with Antoine, ‘Ms Zinger,’ taking the second spot.

Meanwhile, Sterling said that she intends to be a great spokesperson for the company and added that winning the pageant has helped her to lift her overall attitude.

Which, according to Shanda Boyea, General Manager at Kentucky Fried Chicken, was one of the intentions of the show.

She explained that the company is changing its tag line and that for the employees to be able to pass on the new experience to the customers, they first have to experience the greatness.

“They (employees) too need to feel good about themselves and about working at KFC before they could pass it on to our external customers,” Boyea said.

Especially since the company had been quiet within recent times and had no customer appreciation or recognition, the GM said that they saw this as a good opportunity to change the tag line and to boost the morale of the staff.

The idea of having a pageant came from staff and that is what they ran with, Boyea explained.

She told SEARCHLIGHT that the events were for the staff only, as it was designed to build team work.

And from all indications, the event was a success.

“I think it went alright,” Boyea said.

The night was all about promoting staff and members of staff were honoured for demonstrating the company’s ideals.

Shanika Barkar of KFC 1, Deborah Haynes KFC2, Carlisle Harry of KFC 3 and Sylvia Matthews of the KFC Depot were rewarded for representing the company’s ideals on the job.

And KFC 2 won the jingle competition.

Next will be the turn of the loyal patrons of KFC, Boyea said, and although she did not let too many surprises out, she said that the upcoming promotions were going to be big and include a lot of fun.

“They have been supporting us over the years and we will be giving back,” she said.

The official launch of the ‘So Good’ campaign is slated for September 1. (DD)