KFC Offers College Tuition Money for a Baby Named After Colonel Sanders | Eater

"The chain is offering an $11,000 college tuition prize to the first baby born on September 9 who is given the first name Harland, a publicity stunt that asks parents to permanently name their child after the founder, Colonel Harland Sanders. In practical terms the award is modest — it would cover at most about a year at the cheapest in-state four-year public schools and is negligible compared with top-tier tuition that can approach $100,000 per year — and comes against a backdrop of roughly $1.5 trillion in U.S. student loan debt with about 20% of borrowers delinquent. Commentators see the giveaway as a short-term marketing win for the company but a potentially lasting and fraught decision for parents weighing a small immediate financial incentive against lifelong consequences for the child." - Brenna Houck