Results tagged “kfc”

Last week we got sent a press release about a KFC publicity stunt at the UN, and shrugged it off because we're not corporate tools who reblog each and every publicity stunt (unless it involves American Apparel). But what makes this one interesting is that the stunt has deeply embarrassed UN security, who allowed a guy dressed like Colonel Sanders into restricted areas of the UN without security clearance. The guy even got a photo op with current president of the United Nations General Assembly, Libya’s Dr. Ali A. Treki!

KFC, which guards its secret recipe so closely that it's kept in a safe at corporate headquarters, can't be too happy about this: A Long Island man says he's all but figured out the secret to KFC's distinctive taste. Two years ago Ron Douglas quit his job as finance manager at JP Morgan to fully devote himself to his website, which publishes recipes that aim to recreate menu items at chain restaurants like Applebee's and Denny's. But the Colonel's secret is the holy grail of recipes, and Douglas has spent years trying to figure it out, even going so far as to try to bribe a cook at the chain. (The cook declined.) His new cookbook features his sixth attempt at replicating the top-secret recipe, and he tells the Post, "Nobody knows what those 11 herbs and spices are. But if you taste my chicken, you would find the flavor very similar to KFC." But 'very similar' sounds like an understatement (or an attempt to avoid a trademark lawsuit); after a taste test the tabloid deemed his chicken "an exact match" with KFC. Okay, but is it worth rioting over?

Well, we had a good run. Today KFC has made the unsurprising decision to suspend its Oprah-backed grilled chicken giveaway. The overwhelming nationwide demand for free food had depleted KFC's chicken supply to such a degree that the company was actually going to run out of chicken before Mother's Day, which is said to be the chain's most lucrative business day. In this awkwardly upbeat video, KFC president Roger Eaton—who has the weirdest Kentucky accident we've ever heard—explains the crisis, now entering day three:

If the demand for the free grilled chicken combo meal continues at its current pace, KFC could run out of chicken by Saturday. An anonymous source explains why to Business Insider: "The stores cannot cook the product fast enough, sales were up 25-35% BEFORE this. A franchisee today told me KFC is projected to strip their entire supply chain of bird by Saturday. I am not making that up. They are scrambling to source more chicken before Sunday. By Sunday, because it's Mothers Day, one of their busiest days of the year. It's possible they could be out of chicken on Mothers Day."

Who could have predicted that handing out free meals during the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression would be so messy? KFC locations across America were hammered yesterday by an overwhelming demand for free fowl, after Oprah Winfrey promoted a giveaway for two pieces of KFC's new grilled chicken, two sides, and a biscuit. New York City was particularly hard hit; tipsters tell Midtown Lunch that there were about 50 people "crammed into a very tiny space" during lunch hour at the 50th & 7th Avenue KFC.

[UPDATE BELOW] Yesterday Oprah Winfrey thought she'd be nice and arrange for free KFC grilled chicken for everybody. Big mistake. The demand for free fowl has been so overwhelming that many people are having a dickens of a time getting their chickens because the website can't handle all the coupon downloads. This morning Grub Street compiled some of the more "heart wrenching" comments from thwarted KFC consumers on Oprah's site, such as "I'M MELTING CAN'T GET THE COUPONS PLEASE IS THERE ANOTHER WAY OF GETTING THEM ???? HUNGRY FOR THE CHIICKEN" and "Nice gesture since I am unemployed and a free dinner would have been nice. I could not download the coupon."

A security firm run by former New York City police detective Bo Dietl has been hired by KFC to move the fast food chain's secret "Original Recipe" of 11 herbs and spices, which has been not been moved from its safe in corporate headquarters for 68 years. The single sheet of notebook paper, yellowed by age, lays out the entire formula, and was written in pencil and signed by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940.

Lady Bunny is the latest to join the ranks of Team PETA, and has unveiled the organization's newest billboard, which features the drag queen (image here). Located at the intersection of Varick and Spring Streets, it encourages people to "kick the bucket" and states that "sometimes big bright packages contain dirty little secrets."