When an Illinois barber went along with a customer’s request to shave and paint a likeness of Colonel Sanders into his hair, he probably didn’t know that it would result in him receiving the lifetime “gift” of free KFC.

The barber, who appears to specialize in intricate shave jobs, tells WQAD that the customer wanted the KFC logo done on the back of his head. Then the twosome went to a local KFC where the staff enjoyed the handiwork.

“When we went inside everybody pretty much just stopped working,” says the barber. “All the employees came up to us and started taking pictures of the design.”

The news made it through KFC’s grease-coated grapevine, with the barber soon receiving a call from a district manager for the chicken chain.

“He told me that they wanted to possibly get my work on the KFC website and possibly use it on a commercial,” recalls the barber.

The manager promised him and the customer — you know, the one who actually has to walk around with a Colonel Sanders on the back of his head — a stack of coupons for free KFC, and that he would get more whenever those run out.

The barber says he’s previously buzzed portraits of Steve Jobs, LeBron James, Mickey Mouse, Kermit, and ALF (aka Gordon Shumway) onto customers’ heads. If only he’d thought to show off those creations at Apple HQ, NBA games, Disney World, or Melmac, maybe he’d have scored more free stuff.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.