The KFC Myth: Are You Too Chicken to Explore This Urban Legand?

Although people have been perpetuating urban legends throughout time, one of the most popular urban legends surrounds fried chicken establishments. One particular victim of these myths is KFC.

Because KFC’s parent company Yum! Brands Inc. (then Tricon Global) decided to change the name of the company from Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC in order to try to "change the image" slightly so that the public can recognize the organization for selling more than just chicken, people assumed that they did it for other reasons. One urban legend that began spreading in the late 1990’s claimed that the USDA forced Tricon Global to change the name of the fast food outlets because the genetically mutated "Frankenchickens" they sold could not legally be classified as "chicken".

The most popular urban legend goes something like this:

Legend:   A customer who picks up some fried chicken from a fast food outlet discovers that an unusual-tasting piece is actually a batter-fried rat.

Examples:

An old lady ordered out for Kentucky Fried Chicken. She was eating along when she noticed teeth; she pulled back the crust and discovered she was eating a rat. She had a heart attack and died, and her relatives sued Kentucky Fried Chicken for a lot of money.

There was a wife who didn't have anything ready for supper for her husband. So she quick got a basket of chicken and tried to make her dinner look fancy with the prepared chicken. Thus, she fixed a candlelight dinner, etc. When her and her husband started eating the chicken, they thought it tasted funny. Soon to find out it was a fried rat.

Variations:

• The name of the fast food outlet varies, but it is nearly always Kentucky Fried Chicken, (a.k.a. KFC).
  
  


• In most versions the chicken is consumed in a dark place (e.g., a car, a theater, a darkened room).
  
  


• How the rat came to be mixed in with the chicken is usually not explained, although it is sometimes attributed to unsanitary conditions or employee sabotage.
  
  


• A few variants involve other animals, such as a mouse or a cat (the latter in the sabotage versions).