LOUISVILLE, Ky. — KFC will understand if you don’t want to lick your fingers right now.

What You Need To Know

  • KFC will temporarily stop using the "It's finger lickin' good" slogan

  • The pause is related to health recommendations related to the coronavirus pandemic

  • The move is part of a global marketing campaign

The fast-food chicken chain announced Monday it’s suspending the use of its 64-year-old “It’s finger lickin’ good” slogan. With health officials recommending that people try to avoid touching their faces to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, KFC said continuing to use the phrase "doesn't feel quite right."

"We find ourselves in a unique situation — having an iconic slogan that doesn't quite fit in the current environment," Catherine Tan-Gillespie, global chief marketing officer at KFC, said in a statement. 

The chain says the slogan will return when the “time is right.”

In the United Kingdom, the Advertising Standards Authority received more than 160 complaints in March saying a KFC ad showing people licking their fingers in public places was inappropriate, according to multiple reports. 

Temporarily ditching the famous slogan is actually part of a global marketing marketing campaign. KFC released a YouTube video Monday showing the phrase pixelated on billboards and chicken buckets.

The video ends with the message: “That thing we always say? Ignore it. For now.”

Billboard ads will feature chicken buckets with disclaimers saying things like: “Lick fingers at own risk,” Marketing Week reported, which added the campaign will also run on TV and the web.

KFC is owned by Yum! brands, which also owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.