KFC Corporation, or KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky. KFC primarily sells chicken pieces, wraps, salads and sandwiches. While its primary focus is fried chicken, KFC also offers a line of roasted chicken products, side dishes and desserts. Outside North America, KFC offers beef based products such as hamburgers or kebabs, pork based products such as ribs and other regional fare.
The company was founded as Kentucky Fried Chicken by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, though the idea of KFC’s fried chicken actually goes back to 1930. The company adopted the abbreviated form of its name in 1991. Starting in April 2007, the company began using its original name, Kentucky Fried Chicken, for its signage, packaging and advertisements in the United States as part of a new corporate re-branding program; newer and remodeled restaurants will have the new logo and name while older stores will continue to use the 1980s signage.
Additionally, Yum! continues to use the abbreviated name freely in its advertising. Born and raised in Henryville, Indiana, Sanders passed through several professions in his lifetime. Sanders first served his fried chicken in 1930 in the midst of the Great Depression at a gas station he owned in North Corbin, Kentucky. The dining area was named “Sanders Court & Cafe” and was so successful that in 1936 Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon granted Sanders the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel in recognition of his contribution to the state’s cuisine.
The following year Sanders expanded his restaurant to 142 seats, and added a motel he bought across the street. When Sanders prepared his chicken in his original restaurant in North Corbin, he prepared the chicken in an iron skillet, which took about 30 minutes to do, too long for a restaurant operation. In 1939, Sanders altered the cooking process for his fried chicken to use a pressure fryer, resulting in a greatly reduced cooking time comparable to that of deep frying. In 1940 Sanders devised what came to be known as his Original Recipe.
The Sanders Court & Cafe generally served travelers, often those headed to Florida, so when the route planned in the 1950s for what would become Interstate 75 bypassed Corbin, he sold his properties and traveled the U. S. to sell his chicken to restaurant owners. The first to take him up on the offer was Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah; together, they opened the first “Kentucky Fried Chicken” outlet in 1952. By the early 1960s, Kentucky Fried Chicken was sold in over 600 franchised outlets in both the United States and Canada.
One of the longest-lived franchisees of the older Col. Sanders’ chicken concept, as opposed to the KFC chain, was the Kenny Kings chain. The company owned many Northern Ohio diner-style restaurants, the last of which closed in 2004. Sanders sold the entire KFC franchising operation in 1964 for $2 million USD. Since that time, the chain has been sold three more times: to Heublein in 1971, to R. J. Reynolds in 1982 and most recently to PepsiCo in 1986, which made it part of its Tricon Global Restaurants division, which in turn was spun off in 1997, and has now been renamed to Yum!
Brands. Additionally, Colonel Sanders’ nephew, Lee Cummings, took his own Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises (and a chicken recipe of his own) and converted them to his own “spin-off” restaurant chain, Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken. Early television advertisements for KFC regularly featured Colonel Sanders licking his fingers and talking to the viewer about his secret recipe. Despite his death in 1980, Sanders remains a key symbol of the company in its advertising and branding. By the late 1990s, the stylized likeness of Colonel Sanders as the KFC logo had been modified.
KFC ads began featuring an animated version of “the Colonel” voiced by Randy Quaid with a lively and enthusiastic attitude. In 2006, KFC claimed to have made the first logo visible from outer space, though Readymix has had one since 1965. KFC says “It marked the official debut of a massive global re-image campaign that will contemporize 14,000-plus KFC restaurants in over 80 countries over the next few years. ” In 2010, an advertisement was shown in Australia showing an Australian cricket fan giving West Indies fans KFC chicken to keep them quiet.
The ad sparked a debate over racism in the ad, suggesting that all black people eat fried chicken. Fried chicken was eaten by black slaves because it was cheap and easy to make. Background of McDonald McDonald’s is one of the leading restaurant chains in the world, touching the lives of people everyday. The long journey of the burger brand started in 1940, when two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, California. Initially, they owned a hotdog stand, but after establishing the restaurant they served around 25 items, which were mostly barbequed.
It became a popular and profitable teen hangout. In 1948, the brothers closed and reopened the restaurant to sell only hamburgers, milkshakes and French fries. As per the information of the McDonald’s history, the major revenue came from hamburgers, which were sold at a nominal price of 15 cents. The restaurant gradually became famous and the McDonald brothers begin franchising their restaurant in the year 1953. The first franchise was taken by Neil Fox and under it; the second Mc Donald’s restaurant was opened in Fresno, California. It was the first to introduce the Golden Arch design.
The third and fourth restaurants were opened in Saginaw, Michigan and Downey, California, respectively. The latter is the oldest Mc Donald’s restaurant still in operation. In 1954, an entrepreneur and milkshake-mixer salesman, Ray Kroc, acquired the franchise of McDonald’s restaurant for outside California and Arizona. In effect, Kroc opened his first and the overall ninth restaurant in Illinois, Chicago, and gave birth to Mc Donald’s Corporation. In 1958, the restaurant chain sold its 100 millionth hamburger. In 1960, Kroc renamed his company as ‘McDonald’s Corporation’.
In 1961, Kroc convinced the McDonald brothers to sell the business rights to him for a sum $2. 7milion. Later that year, the Hamburger University was opened, which gave away McDonald’s restaurant Bachelor of Hamburgology degrees to students. In 1963, the mascot Ronald McDonald was born as a part of a marketing strategy in US. In 1967, the first restaurant outside US was opened in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1974, the 3000th restaurant opened in Woolwich, United Kingdom, which is the first of the country. Happy Meal was introduced in US in 1979. In 1984, the company became the main sponsor of the Summer Olympics.
The year was also marked by the death of Ray Kroc. In 1988, the first restaurant opened in a communist country in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, followed by the first Soviet restaurant in Moscow (1990). In 1992, the largest McDonald’s was opened in Beijing, China, having over 700 seats and was later demolished. In 1993, the first sea-going restaurant was established, aboard the Finnish Cruise-ferry Silja Europa, sailing between Helsinki and Stockholm. In 1994, McDonald’s bagged the Catalyst Award for its program for ‘fostering leadership development in women’.
In 1996, the first Indian restaurant was opened. In 2003, the company launched the ‘I’m lovin’ it’ campaign. In 2005, McDonald’s started its McDelivery service in Singapore. In 2006, the chain announced that it will publish nutritional information on its packaging of all its products, for the benefit of the customers. Considering the huge success and brand McDonald’s has become, the food chain is spread across the world in almost all the major cities of the globe. Being economic and user friendly, the success rate of the company cannot be doubted.
