Everybody likes free chicken.

And anyone who walked through the doors of KFC Monday got one free piece of grilled chicken in the chain's third "UNFry Day" promotion. KFC is touting the grilled chicken as a healthier alternative to its fried varieties and has launched a Web site for its "Grilled Nation" of "UNfried" chicken eaters.

The previous promotions proved so popular, restaurants ran out of chicken and had to provide rain checks. This time, things seemed to be moving in an orderly fashion.

Slashfood hit the busy lunch hour in downtown Brooklyn, N.Y., where diners lined up -- sometimes up to 20 deep -- for free chicken.

KFC Chicken Photo: Sikachu!/flickr

A former Wall Street executive has plucked himself a new career trying to unlock Col. Harland Sander's fried-chicken secret.

Ron Douglas, a former finance director at J.P. Morgan, has been experimenting in the kitchen over the last few years in an attempt to crack KFC's world-famous Original Recipe, the New York Post reports. With his sixth attempt, Douglas thinks he's finally done it.

"Nobody knows what those 11 herbs and spices are, Douglas told the paper. "But if you taste my chicken, you would find the flavor very similar to KFC."

Do you have what it takes to be the next Colonel Sanders?

KFC is searching for a new face for its Kentucky Grilled Chicken (KGC) food line. The fast-food chain is calling for video submissions on its MySpace page through July 7, 2009, in an "Ultimate KGC Fan" contest.

The chicken chain wants entrants to make submissions saying why they should be the new face of the grilled chicken product, which was unveiled in April.

At stake is a lifetime supply of Kentucky Grilled Chicken, which company officials value at $13,000. Semifinalists will be selected on July 25 and the public will have the chance to weigh in on Aug. 1.

Do you remember those Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials from all those years back? You know, the ones that touted the Colonel's secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. Turns out, that blend is such a secret that when the company (now simply known as KFC) realized that the combination of vaults and locks might be a little vulnerable, they hired a security company to beef up the level of protect, and used an armored guard to move the recipe from one location to another. That's one special spice blend. The video of the transfer is after the jump.

Well, not really.

However, in an effort to woo back customers who have denied the fried for health reasons, the fast food fried chicken joint will start adding grilled chicken to their stores. The chicken will be called Kentucky Grilled Chicken (so it is KGC), but the company will continue to serve its namesake, fried chicken. The new grilled chicken has been and is currently being tested in Indianapolis, Colorado Springs, San Diego, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, Fla., and Austin, Texas, with plans for the full national rollout in early January 2009.

Folks at Kentucky's Cave Hill Cemetery have a bone to pick with PETA over a tombstone that the animal rights group recently placed near the KFC founder Col. Harland Sanders' grave to mark the anniversary of his death.

At first blush the marker seems to contain little more than a loving poem addressed to "Kind Friend of Chickens." As you can see from the above photo it actually contains an acrostic that reads "KFC TORTURES BIRDS." Officials at the Louisville cemetery say they were tricked and want the headstone removed. "We do not believe in being part of any political message at all," said Mac Barr, board chairman of Cave Hill Cemetery. "We believe that this is directed at Col. Sanders and KFC, and again, if we had known this in advance we would not have permitted this." Well, by gum I l think you might be on to something there Mac.

The plot was purchased by Matt Prescott, the brains behind the group's Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, which takes aim at KFC because its "suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can't even walk, and often break their wings and legs." Even if such horrific claims are true PETA's taking its campaign to the boneyard is particularly dastardly.
[via Neatorama]

Until a fast-food restaurant places ads on the moon, the publicity stunt that KFC used to unveil its new logo earlier this week gets my vote for most bizarre. The chicken purveyor placed a gargantuan logo in the Nevada desert, making it the first brand visible from outer space. The outsized ad measures 87,000 square feet, a whopping six-and-a-half times bigger than the dome of the Taj Mahal.

The new logo is part of a rebranding effort that includes using the name Kentucky Fried Chicken along with reintroducing the slogans "Finger Lickin' Good" and "11 Secret Herbs and Spices." Forgive me while I indulge in some greasy childhood nostalgia as I ponder those slogans. The new logo sports bolder colors and a more defined graphic of the chain's late founder Colonel Harland Sanders. In addition to the crisper likeness, the good colonel has shed his white suit in favor of a red apron.

It's great that KFC is getting back to its roots and letting folks know that the colonel was a real person, but did they really need to build what amounts to a corporate version of the eighth wonder of the world? Gregg Dedrick, president of KFC Corp. had this to say: "If there are extraterrestrials in outer space, KFC wants to become their restaurant of choice. For now, we'll be very content satisfying the entire human population ... Besides, who knows if extraterrestrials even have fingers?" Umm, OK then.

KFC announced yesterday that they intended to begin eliminating trans-fats from their recipes, starting with their famous fried chicken. Over the course of the next 6-8 months, by April of 2007, all KFC stores will switch to using a non-hydrogenated cooking oil, although some locations already use it. If this seems like a minor change, consider that one extra-crispy chicken breast (is there any other kind worth going to KFC for?) has 4.5 grams of trans fat!

The process of testing the recipes has taken the company about two years. Even though the partially hydrogenated oil that they currently use does not really contribute to the product in terms of flavor, it does produce a superior crispness that lasts longer than some other oils. The company did not want to put out a product that would not live up to their consumers' expectations - even if it was healthier. They will be using low linolenic soybean oil. Other fast food companies, including Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, which are also owned by KFC's parent company, Yum Brands Inc., say that they are looking into replacing partially hydrogenated oils on their menus, as well.

KFC fans should take note that there will still be a few things on the menu that will not be trans-fat free, namely their biscuits, macaroni and cheese and baked goods.

KFC has come under fire from a retired Maryland doctor and, for a second time, the Center for Science in the Public Interest for their continued use of partially hydrogenated oil, the Associated Press reported. Aside from financial compensation, the two are asking that a judge require KFC to either stop using the high-fat oils or require employees to inform customers of trans fats prior to ordering. Class action status is also being sought for anyone that has eaten at a certain Washington, D.C. KFC in 2004-2005.

Now, I suppose you can argue that fast food chains should take steps to make their products healthier, but this is fried chicken. Next to maybe a chili dog or a Krispy Kreme donut, I don't think anything says "I"m throwing nutritional caution to the wind right now" like a piece of fried chicken, let alone a bucket of it.

A KFC spokesperson told the AP that KFC will fight the suit in court, adding that the chain has made their nutrition information available in stores and online "for a very long time."

[Via Restaurant News Resource]

While watching the Pistons play the Cavs this weekend, I couldn't help but see (sadly, several times!) the commercial for KFC's attempt to get in on the bowl trend (about two years too late, mind you) with the Cheesy Chicken Mashed Potato Bowl. Apparently, this thing is mashed potatoes, then gravy, then corn, then fried chicken pieces, then grated cheddar cheese.

Some have deemed it the "Cardiac Arrest Bowl."

Various forums, meanwhile, are abuzz with questions like "do cheese and gravy mix?"

For me, it's never simply a question of "is it tasty?" For me, it's a question of "is it tasteful?"

I can't help but wonder what other products are awaiting us in the coming years:

• The Thanksgiving Dinner Bowl: base of yams, then cranberry paste, then turkey, then gravy, then pumpkin pie, and finally a dollop of Cool Whip
• The 21st Birthday Bowl: base of 6 french fries, then Irish Car Bomb, then 6 watermelon shooters, and finally gyro sandwich
• The Bachelor Bowl: base of microwave pizza, then leftover Chinese take-out, then salsa, finally finished by whatever's still in the "Crisper" drawer

[Image Courier-Journal] 

We're not stupid. Sometimes we pretend or choose to ignore the fat in foods from McDonald's and KFC, but we know those evil trans fats are in there.

However, what you might not have known is that the trans fat content in French fries and fried chicken from McDonald's and KFC is higher in the US than in their counterparts in other countries. Researchers studied the trans fat content of foods at locations around the world and were surpised by how much variation there was for restaurants that are supposed to be standard from location to location. There were even differences among restaurants in the same city.

The differences come from the type of frying oil that is being used - partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is high in trans fast (and is also cheaper). At a New York City McDonald's, a large fries-and-chicken-nuggets combo had 10.2 g of trans fat, Spain, Russia and the Czech Republic had a mere 3 g, and Denmark nuggets and fries came in the lowest at 0.33 g of trans fat.

To combat the ad-skipping devices like TiVo and other digital video recorders that are so popular right now, KFC has come out with a new ad that, when played in slow motion, will reveal a secret message. By uncovering the secret code - by which I mean watching the commercial - viewers can go to the KFC website where they will receive a coupon for a free Buffalo KFC Snacker. If you don't have a TiVo or other device and want to snag a coupon for a free sandwich, the commercial can be viewed in slow motion at the Buffalo Snacker website. I would tell you the secret "code" in this post, but that seems unfair to the KFC advertisers. I will give you a hint: based on the name of the sandwich, it should not be hard to guess the code word.