KFC
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| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 20 March 1930 |
| Legal Structure | Public subsidiary |
| Industry | Food |
| Also known as | |
| Official website | https://www.kfc.com/ |
KFC Corporation, also called Kentucky Fried Chicken, is an American fast-food chain known for its Kentucky fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. It is a subsidiary to Yum! Brands, with a revenue of $12.87 Billion in 2020.
Consumer impact summary
Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct towards users of the product (if applicable):
- User Freedom
- User Privacy
- Business Model
- Market Control
Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.
Incidents
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the KFC category.
Oprah KFC coupon and lawsuit (2009—2011)
KFC collaborated with the hit show The Oprah Winfrey Show for its promotion on KFC's new item, Kentucky Grilled Chicken in 2009, announcing users could download a coupon from her website for a free two-piece Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal with no additional costs. Within a couple of days, KFC cancelled the promotion, however this resulted in backlash from consumers and a class-action lawsuit that eventually settled with KFC compensating up to $15.96 for the original coupon, and $8 for the PDF coupon for each household.[1][2]
KFC China food scandal (2012)
In December 2012, KFC China was exposed after an investigation reported and aired by an Chinese Television station[3] showcased the company suppliers, Liuhe Group and Yingta Group, sold chicken with antibiotics, hormones (allowing for birds to reach maturity in 45 days),[4] and a banned drug known as chloramphenicol.[5]
As a result of this report, consumers in China were terrified of the news. This was later compounded by an outbreak of the bird flu in March 2013, impacting consumers' trust and resulting in many of them looking for alternative options or boycotting. KFC and its parent company, Yum! Brands saw decreased sales, with Yum! Brands in particular losing as much as 20%.[6][7]
Yum! Brands initially responded by saying that 45-days-old chicken is the norm in the industry, however in January 2013 they issued an formal apology to the public. A couple of weeks later, KFC China issued a campaign dubbed "Operation Thunder", highlighting the company's steps to ensure the safety of their chickens. Along with starting a campaign, KFC also started a poetry contest on social media, with the winner getting an iPad Mini.
With the company efforts to persuade customers of their product safety, a survey conducted in November 2013 showcased around 40% of participants still had concerns about KFC food safety practices.[8]
KFC data breach (2016)
On 9 December 2016, KFC warned 1.2 million users of its Colonel's Club loyalty program about a security breach in the UK, urging users to immediately change their passwords.[9]
Our monitoring systems have found a small number of Colonel’s Club accounts may have been compromised as a result of our website being targeted. Whilst it is unlikely you have been impacted, we advise that you change your password as a precaution.”[10]
KFC claims that only 30 users were affected and the information leaked doesn't contain financial information:[11]
“We take the online security of our fans very seriously, so we’ve advised all Colonel’s Club members to change their passwords as a precaution, despite only a small number of accounts being directly affected. We don’t store credit card details as part of our Colonel’s Club rewards scheme, so no financial data was compromised.” -- Brad Scheiner, Head of IT at KFC UK & Ireland
Products
This is a list of the company's product lines with articles on this wiki.
- Example product line one (release date): Short summary of the product's incidents.
- Example product line two (release date):
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See also
References
- ↑ Popken, Ben (12 Sep 2011). "Get $3.99 In Oprah Free KFC Coupon Debacle Lawsuit". The Consumerist. Archived from the original on 22 Dec 2012.
- ↑ Seibold, Angie (10 Feb 2025). "The Oprah Mistake That Made KFC Run Out Of Chicken". The Takeout. Archived from the original on 27 Mar 2025. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ "KFC's Recovery in China is Going to Take Some Time". Food Safety News. 6 Feb 2013. Archived from the original on 26 Oct 2020. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Cooper, Ted (17 Nov 2013). "KFC's Awful Year in China Is Finally Coming to an End". The Motley Fool. Archived from the original on 17 Nov 2013. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Montlake, Simon (20 Dec 2012). "Chinese Animal-Feed Billionaire Takes Hit On KFC Food Safety Scare". Forbes. Archived from the original on 26 Jul 2021. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ "KFC's Food Safety Controversies in China". Scribd. Archived from the original on 31 Aug 2020. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ "Yum Brands says KFC sales in China hit by bird flu scare". BBC. 11 Apr 2013. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ "Diners Not Convinced by KFC's China Revival Campaign". The Poultry Site. 5 Dec 2013. Archived from the original on 18 Jul 2019. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Mathews, Lee (13 Dec 2016). "KFC Hack Leaves 1.2 Million Users With A Bad Taste In Their Mouths". Forbes. Archived from the original on 14 Dec 2016. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Pascu, Luana (13 Dec 2016). "KFC security breach leaks user information". Bitdefender. Archived from the original on 5 Mar 2026. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Gurubaran (14 Dec 2016). "KFC Security Breach – 1.2 million members of its Colonel's Club warned to change passwords immediately". gbhackers. Archived from the original on 25 Sep 2020. Retrieved 4 Mar 2026.