Why does kfc not use the word chicken

False About this rating. Top Fact Checks. View all. Most Searched. It was an unusual and brilliant scheme to alleviate government debt, but it was also one that alienated one of the most famous companies ever associated with Kentucky. The venerable Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, a mainstay of American culture since its first franchise opened in Salt Lake City in , refused as a matter of principle to pay royalties on a name they had been using for four decades.

Kentucky Fried Chicken were not the only ones who bravely refused to knuckle under. More information about this page. But along the way, things got complicated.

It's absolutely not for the reason you expect, and the irony is that if they had gone with their first choice, none of this ever would have happened. First, let's talk about the elephant in the room and that rumor that everyone's heard: They wanted to get rid of the word "fried" so health-conscious customers wouldn't automatically think of artery-clogging fats when they thought of the chicken chain.

Strangely, this is a rumor that started with KFC themselves. According to Snopes , that actually was the official statement released by the chain's public relations people. They claimed that they really did offer some "healthy" menu items and were making a swing toward being more health-conscious, and wanted everyone to know that.

Most importantly the story goes , they wanted people to know it and come back to them. But it definitely wasn't the whole truth, and it was sort of a double-edged sword. KFC was, after all, still fried, so trying to hide the word "fried" behind an "F" wasn't really fooling anyone, was it? It was actually just a story, and the real story was even stranger.

In — the year before KFC rebranded — the state of Kentucky did a weird thing. Snopes says the more officially-named Commonwealth of Kentucky was looking to get rid of some of their state debt, so someone struck on an idea that was equal parts brilliant, bizarre, and completely alienating. They decided to trademark their name, so anyone using the word "Kentucky" for any commercial reason would need to pay the state a licensing fee.

The then-Kentucky Fried Chicken chain spent a year negotiating with the state, basically saying it was pretty insane to make them pay a fee to use a name they had trademarked and had been using for decades. We all know how it turned out: Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC, and they took the opportunity to introduce the name change along with a complete redesign of their packaging and image. Snopes says that it wasn't just Kentucky Fried Chicken that struggled with their name.

It's why nurseries were suddenly selling "Shenandoah bluegrass" instead of "Kentucky bluegrass," and it's why you suddenly stopped hearing Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman" on the radio. But fast forward a bit to , and you'll find the issue isn't over. This time, it was the University of Kentucky who hopped on the crazy-trademark bandwagon, and they claimed they were the ones who owned the word "Kentucky" via Free Advice Legal With more than businesses using the word in trademarks or trademark applications, it might seem as though they were fighting an uphill battle.

Their bone structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is great for KFC because they do not have to pay so much for their production costs. There is no more plucking of the feathers or the removal of the beaks and feet. The government has told them to change all of their menus so they do not say chicken anywhere. If you look closely you will notice this.

Listen to their commercials, I guarantee you will not see or hear the word chicken.