Pizza Chain Space Alien
Roswell, New Mexico
In the early 2010s, Roswell's Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet became the first local business in town to position a large green alien, carved from a tree trunk, outside its front door. The alien carried a staff, lit at night, and stood about 12 feet tall. The juxtaposition of this bug-eyed sentinel with Colonel Sanders' kindly face was one of the more incongruous sights in downtown Roswell.
We thought: if aliens this size believed that the Colonel was our Great Leader -- and also appreciated our fried chicken -- then perhaps our two worlds could forge a lasting peace.
But that dream didn't last. Even though other Roswell businesses subsequently added their own tree trunk aliens to attract passing traffic, the KFC wasn't around to enjoy it. In 2015 it fell victim, not to space aliens, but to another global fast food chain, ceding its Roswell outpost to Domino's Pizza. The tree trunk alien remained, and has seamlessly switched its allegiance to its new Earth overlord.