In 1991 when the fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC, it was suggested at the time that this move was in response to a study carried out by the University of New Hampshire that proved that real chickens weren’t being used in the food. Instead, so the story goes, genetically modified animals with no beaks or feathers were being used in order to save on costs. Because of this, it was said, government regulations dictated that such mutated animals could not be marketed as chickens and so the company was force to omit the word “chicken” from its name, aswell as from advertisements and menus. This, of course, is a myth No such study was undertaken and the claim has no basis in fact
There were a number of genuine reasons behind the name change. One was to lessen the emphasis on the word“chicken,” because the company was at that point providing a more diverse menu, while another was to remove the word“fried,” which had unhealthy connotations for increasingly health-conscious consumers. A third reason was the growing trend of major companies to shorten their names and to use only initials As most people referred to the company as KFC anyway, it seemed only logical to embrace the name.
