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Thread: the Kentucky Fried Thread

  1. #91
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    ...or not...

    2020. The year of flops.

    Companies
    Yum China flops in Hong Kong debut amid lingering questions about strategy for KFC, Pizza Hut to overcome Covid-19 slump
    Shares of the Shanghai-based company began trading at HK$410, a slight discount to the HK$412 that they were offered at in their HK$17.27 billion (US$2.23 billion) secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange
    The stock fell by as much as 6.3 per cent to an intraday low of HK$386.20 in recent trading, ending the day at HK$390.20
    Daniel Ren
    Alison Tudor-Ackroyd
    Daniel Ren in Shanghai and Alison Tudor-Ackroyd
    Published: 12:00pm, 10 Sep, 2020


    Pedestrians walk past a Pizza Hut restaurant and a KFC restaurant, both operated by Yum China Holdings in Beijing on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg

    Yum China Holdings, the owner of the KFC and Pizza Hut restaurant chains in China, got off to a bumpy start in its Hong Kong trading debut when its stock became the first in a long while to open at a loss.
    Shares of the Shanghai-based company began trading at HK$410, a slight discount to the HK$412 that they were offered at in their HK$17.27 billion (US$2.23 billion) secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The stock fell by as much as 6.3 per cent to an intraday low of HK$386.20 in recent trading before ending its first trading day at HK$390.20 to record an unusual loss for retail investors who have subscribed to it.
    “The first-day performance was slightly below market expectations, but it would not damp investors’ enthusiasm in secondary listings,” said He Yan, a hedge fund manager with Shanghai Shiva Investment. “Companies with strong consumer awareness on the mainland are among the favourite stocks for Chinese investors.”
    The flop in Yum China’s Hong Kong debut draws a stark contrast with a spate of bumper initial public offerings (IPO) in the city, where stocks gained 50 per cent or more in value when they changed hands for the first time. Just this week, Nongfu Spring successfully completed its HK$8.35 billion IPO, setting the record as the most overbought offer in Hong Kong’s financial history with 1,147 times more investors submitting bids than available shares. The water bottler’s stock debuted at an 85 per cent premium to its offer price.

    Yum China’s offering comes as restaurants worldwide are still struggling with social distancing regulations to contain the global coronavirus pandemic.
    The chain is betting that its franchise of 10,000 restaurants across 1,400 cities and townships in mainland China stand a better chance of succeeding than other markets, as the nation became the first major economy to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown.


    Pedestrians walk past a KFC restaurant operated by Yum China Holdings in Beijing on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg

    The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a huge challenge to the restaurant industry and investors were keen on hearing answers to the question of how the management weathered through the challenges and recovery of operating results, said Huang Peihao, head of equity capital markets in Asia for UBS.
    “Through a secondary listing in Hong Kong, the company attracted Asian time-zone investors, including those from Hong Kong, mainland China, and Singapore. The secondary listing also facilitates a closer tie with Yum China’s customers,” said Huang, whose bank UBS is joint global coordinator with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and CMB International for Yum China’s stock offer. “We believe these will support the company‘s medium and long-term development.”
    For now, investors appear unconvinced. The Hong Kong shares fell by as much as 3 per cent on the Bright mart grey market overnight, before transactions formally began in the city, signalling that the stock would open at a discount. Yum China’s US-traded American depositary receipts rose 1.7 per cent overnight to US$53.20 in New York.
    Yum China posted a 51.5 per cent drop in profit for the first six months of this year, earning US$194 million.
    The company granted the underwriters of its international offering an overallotment option to purchase up to an additional 6.3 million shares at the offer price. If the overallotment is fully exercised, the company would raise an additional HK$2.56 billion.


    Daniel Ren
    Daniel Ren is the SCMP's Shanghai bureau chief. A Shanghai native, Daniel joined the SCMP in 2007 as a Business reporter.

    Alison Tudor-Ackroyd
    Alison is the Post's Finance Editor. Previously, she was Managing Editor of FinanceAsia; The Wall Street Journal's Asia Pacific Senior Finance Correspondent and before that Reuters' Asia Private Equity Correspondent. She has more than 20 years' experience reporting on finance while based in London, Milan, Paris, Tokyo and now Hong Kong. Alison has moderated panels at numerous summits from Sibos, Milken to Rise. In 2018, she was named Fintech Journalist of the Year and won Outstanding Contribution to Journalism in Asian press awards.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  2. #92
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    It would be pretty funny to toss one into someone's fireplace...

    It's back.

    The KFC Yule log is back and disgusting as ever


    Fill your home with the smell of a greasy fast food chain this holiday season.Fill your home with the smell of a greasy fast food chain this holiday season.IMAGE: ENVRIO-LOG
    BY MILLER KERNMASHABLE SHOPPING
    19 HOURS AGO
    The air is getting colder as we approach the cozy winter months and if you breathe in deep you can catch a whiff of that crisp fall air. Wait, no. That’s crispy chicken we’re smelling.

    That’s right — the KFC 11 Herbs & Spices firelog is back, baby. This absolutely cursed log is made for fireplaces, fire pits, and wood stoves and will make your home smell like greasy fried chicken. And who wouldn’t want that?

    Warning: The product description says burning the log may result in a craving for fried chicken. It also reminds you that while the firelog smells great (that’s questionable) you should not attempt to eat it — because we know that would be your first instinct, right?

    The KFC log burns for up to three unbearable hours and is made from 100% recycled materials, which is a cool move on KFC’s part. While the firelog wouldn’t make the cut for most holiday gift guides, it does actually make for a pretty good white elephant gift.

    And the best part? The KFC 11 Herbs & Spices firelog is on sale for $15.88, down from $19.98. It’s not much of a savings, but it’s better than paying full price for something that will likely be a gag gift. Emphasis on the "gag." (And if you truly do enjoy the scent, there’s no judgment here. Well, maybe a little.)
    Gene Ching
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  3. #93
    Gosh! It's my all-time favorite.

  4. #94
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    Slightly OT

    ...or not... I'm pescatarian because I'm Buddhist and I'm not sure how to deal with this.

    Singapore approves lab-grown 'chicken' meat
    Published12 hours ago
    Eat Just chicken nuggets
    Singapore has given regulatory approval for the world’s first “clean meat” that does not come from slaughtered animals.

    The decision paves the way for San Francisco-based startup Eat Just to sell lab-grown chicken meat.

    The meat will initially be used in nuggets, but the company hasn’t said when they will become available.

    Demand for alternatives to regular meat has surged due to consumer concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment.

    According to Barclays, the market for meat alternatives could be worth $140bn (£104bn) within the next decade, or about 10% of the $1.4tn global meat industry.

    Plant-based meat options such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are increasingly found on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus.

    But Eat Just’s product is different because it is not plant based, but instead grown from animal muscle cells in a lab.

    Breakthrough
    The company called it a "breakthrough for the global food industry" and hopes other countries will now follow suit.

    Over the last decade, dozens of start-ups have attempted to bring cultured meat to market, hoping to win over conventional meat eaters with the promise of a more ethical product.

    Two of the largest are Israel-based Future Meat Technologies and the Bill Gates-backed Memphis Meats, which are both trying to enter the market with affordable and tasty lab grown meats.

    Singapore’s Shiok Meats is working on lab grown crustacean meats.

    While many have touted the environmental benefits, some scientists have suggested it might be worse for climate change under some circumstances.

    Challenges ahead
    By Mariko Oi, BBC News Singapore

    The boss of Eat Just called it "one of the most significant milestones in the food industries" but challenges remain.

    Firstly, it is much more expensive to produce lab-grown meat than plant-based products.

    Case in point: Eat Just previously said it would sell lab-grown chicken nuggets at $50 each.

    The cost has since come down but it will still be as expensive as premium chicken.

    Another challenge for the company is the reaction of consumers.

    But Singapore's approval of Eat Just's product will likely attract competitors to set up operations in the city state, and it could also prompt other countries to approve it, too.

    Presentational grey line
    Safe ‘novel food’
    The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said an expert working group reviewed data on Eat Just’s manufacturing control and safety testing of the cultured chicken.

    “It was found to be safe for consumption at the intended levels of use, and was allowed to be sold in Singapore as an ingredient in Eat Just’s nuggets product,” the SFA said.

    The agency said it has put in place a regulatory framework for “novel food” to ensure that cultured meat and other alternative protein products meet safety standards before they are sold in Singapore.

    “I'm sure that our regulatory approval for cultured meat will be the first of many in Singapore and in countries around the globe,” said Josh Tetrick, the Eat Just co-founder in a media release.

    No antibiotics were used in the process, and the chicken had lower microbiological content than conventional chicken, the company said.

    “The first-in-the-world regulatory allowance of real, high-quality meat created directly from animal cells for safe human consumption paves the way for a forthcoming small-scale commercial launch in Singapore,” Eat Just said.
    Gene Ching
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  5. #95
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    This thread is weird

    It keeps surprising me. Lopez? Really?

    Dec 7, 2020 5:00am PT
    Colonel Sanders’ Next KFC Commercial is Also a Steamy Lifetime Drama

    By Brian Steinberg


    Courtesy of A+E Networks

    Colonel Harland Sanders has for decades captured the fancy of the American public, usually over the course of dozens of 30-second commercials for KFC that break into TV programs. On Sunday, he won’t have to interrupt any longer.

    He’s getting his own show.

    Mario Lopez will star as the nation’s best-known fried-chicken spokesman in a steamy Lifetime “mini-movie” that hinges less on the chain’s “secret recipe” of 11 herbs and spices and more on dysfunctional family dynamics and forbidden love. And while the Lifetime program, “A Recipe for Seduction,” has all the hallmarks of one of the A+E-owned cable outlet’s high-drama potboilers, it is in essence a 15-minute commercial for the Yum Brands restaurant.

    Most advertisers hope their commercials will spur consumers to buy their products after they see the spots. But KFC will use promotions for “Seduction,” which airs at noon on December 13, to order lunch. People who order KFC on Uber Eats for delivery can get six of the chain’s extra crispy tenders for free when they make a purchase totaling more than $20.

    “We always want our brand to show up in interesting and unexpected ways in popular culture,” KFC said in a prepared statement. “The KFC and Lifetime mini-movie event is a perfect way to bring fans a fun opportunity to enjoy the holidays with family, friends, and loved ones.” KFC spent more than $195 million on traditional TV advertising in 2019, according to Kantar, a tracker of ad spending.

    “A Recipe for Seduction” is just the latest ingredient in a long-simmering stew cooked up by Madison Avenue to foil the increasing disdain the average TV viewer has for traditional commercials. Streaming-video venues like Netflix, Disney Plus and Hulu allow subscribers to watch their favorites with fewer ads – and in many cases none. If advertisers can come up with commercial concepts that are as compelling as the programming they barge in upon, so the thinking goes, they might get consumers to pay more attention than has become the norm.

    The Lifetime effort will look a lot like the stuff to which its fans might typically tune. Lopez is also starring in “FelizNoviDAD,” a network holiday movie that premiered last month and that will follow the KFC drama. After debuting on the network, “A Recipe for Seduction” will continue to be available throughout the holiday season on mylifetime.com/christmas-movies, and at all Lifetime apps, and video-on-demand platforms.

    “Through a terrific cast, and with a wink to the unique sensibilities celebrated in Lifetime movies, this co-production spotlights each brand’s POV and marries them in a fun and authentic way,” says David DeSocio, executive vice president of ad sales marketing and partnerships at A+E Networks. The ad agency Wieden + Kennedy helped produce the KFC program.

    Other advertisers have aspired to create commercials that try to look like independent content. NBC on November 25 aired a one-hour special co-produced by L’Oreal that celebrated female philanthropists. In 2014, WarnerMedia’s HLN aired a six-part reality series, “Growing America,” that was co-produced by Holiday Inn. The hotel chain figured prominently in some of the challenges faced by participants in the series. Discovery that same year aired a program that examined the familiar plagues from the story of Moses. Viewers were not expressly told that the show, “Surviving Exodus,” was commissioned by 20th Century Fox to drum up attention for the release of its movie “Exodus: Gods and Kings.”

    Some efforts are decidedly more creative. Arby’s in 2014 released a 13-hour commercial talking about how it smoked brisket. The marathon spot played out only on a local MyNetwork affiliate in Duluth, Minn., but word of the stunt was enough to lure 350,000 unique visitors to watch the video on a website where the average visit lasted 38 minutes.

    Yum Brands and KFC have long tested these waters. The chicken emporium made Colonel Sanders the star of several bespoke titles from DC Comics in 2015 and 2017 that put him alongside characters such as Green Lantern and the Flash. The company was a charter sponsor of “The Ocho,” ESPN’s celebration of off-kilter sports probably best left to the sidelines ,and in 2018 supported those efforts with longer-form vignettes that had sportscasters John Buccigross and Kenny Mayne holding forth on an “ESPN Ocho” set introducing new contests in which top athletes try to accomplish their feats while wearing KFC’s signature buckets.

    The parent company is certainly cognizant of the power of movies and movie trailers. In 2018, it ran a series of ersatz movie trailers for the debut of its Taco Bell Nacho Fries, realizing TV viewers tended to pay more attention to coming attractions than they did to ads for floor polish or toothpaste.

    KFC will face a challenge of a different sort when the movie runs on Sunday. Program ratings from Nielsen will be readily available within 24 hours – letting Lifetime as well as a host fast-food competitors understand quickly just how many people watched the steamy chicken drama in real time. KFC’s fried-fowl recipe may be secret, but one measure of its commercial’s success will not be.
    Gene Ching
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  6. #96
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    It keeps surprising me. Lopez? Really?
    Will she really be? Awesome!

  7. #97
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    KFConsole

    This thread...KFC marketing...I can't even.

    KFC has created a console that's more powerful than the PS5 and has a built-in 'chicken chamber' to keep your meal warm
    Kate Duffy Dec 23, 2020, 8:28 AM

    KFConsole heats up fried chicken. KFC

    KFC announced Tuesday the creation of a new gaming console, KFConsole, which has a built-in "chicken chamber" to keep food warm in while users play.

    The bucketlike console has a cooling system that transfers the heat from the components to the chicken chamber, keeping the hardware cool and the chicken warm.

    The chicken chain has partnered with Cooler Master, Intel, Asus, and Seagate to create the KFConsole.

    "If Sony or Microsoft want any tips on how to engineer a chicken chamber for their efforts next time, they'd be welcome to get in touch," the public-relations and social-media lead at KFC UK and Ireland said.
    Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

    The fast-food chain KFC has created a new high-end gaming console that comes with a built-in "chicken chamber" to keep your chicken warm while you play.

    KFC teamed up with Cooler Master to create the "KFConsole," the chicken chain said in a statement on Tuesday. It is essentially a high-end gaming PC with components made by Intel, Asus, and Seagate.

    It's a powerful machine: KFC says it can run games at 4K resolution at 240 frames per second — more than the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X can manage. It can also run virtual-reality games, according to KFC and Cooler Master's website.

    The bucketlike console has a cooling system that transfers the heat produced by the components to the chicken chamber, helping to keep the hardware cool and the "finger lickin' good" chicken warm.

    "The Bargain Bucket-shaped machine features the world's first built in chicken chamber, which is kitted out to keep its contents hot, ready for consumption during intense gaming sessions," KFC said.


    The KFConsole chicken chamber. KFC
    Cooler Master didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. An Intel spokesperson said they didn't have anything additional to share at this stage beyond the details on the Cooler Master website.

    The cost and release date of the KFConsole haven't yet been announced.

    It also includes an Intel Nuc 9 Extreme Compute Element and two Seagate BarraCuda 1TB SSD drives for storage, Cooler Master said.

    "This machine is capable of running games at top-level specs, all on top of keeping your meal warm for you to enjoy during your gaming experience ... what's not to like?" Mark Cheevers, the public-relations and social-media lead at KFC UK and Ireland, said in the statement.

    "If Sony or Microsoft want any tips on how to engineer a chicken chamber for their efforts next time, they'd be welcome to get in touch," he said.

    Stephen James, the global PR and influencer manager at Cooler Master, said in the press release: "When we were approached by KFC Gaming to make the KFConsole, we jumped at the chance to get involved and enter the console war."

    He added: "The KFConsole has been custom built with the gamer at the front of mind. The last thing we want is anyone to go hungry while playing!"

    One Twitter user responded to KFC's tweet by asking how "Cyberpunk 2077," which has sold more than 13 million copies, would run on the console. KFC replied: "It runs better than any console."

    This isn't the only mind-boggling invention KFC has come up with in recent years.

    In February, the fast-food chain collaborated with Crocs to create shoes with fried chicken painted on them, topped with a chicken-scented charm. The shoes sold out within half an hour after their launch in July.

    KFC announced the release of its 11 Herbs & Spices Firelog in December 2018 — basically a log that smells like fried chicken.

    Quote Originally Posted by highlypotion View Post
    Will she really be? Awesome!
    She? Mario is a boy but I can see where you might make that mistake...
    Gene Ching
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  8. #98
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    Never thought I'd see this...

    China’s appetite for meat fades as vegan revolution takes hold
    Concerns over carbon emissions and food crises are fuelling a move away from meat consumption as a symbol of wealth


    An advertisement for plant-based products at a KFC store in Hangzhou. International and domestic chains are expanding their range of meat alternatives. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images
    Crystal Reid
    Tue 9 Mar 2021 05.07 EST


    The window of a KFC in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou hosts the image of a familiar mound of golden nuggets. But this overflowing bucket sporting Colonel Sanders’ smiling face is slightly different. The bucket is green and the nuggets within it are completely meat free.

    Over the last couple of years, after many years of rising meat consumption by China’s expanding middle classes for whom eating pork every day was a luxurious sign of new financial comforts, the green shoots of a vegan meat revolution have begun to sprout. Although China still consumes 28% of the world’s meat, including half of all pork, and boasts a meat market valued at $86bn (£62bn), plant-based meat substitutes are slowing carving out a place for themselves among a new generation of consumers increasingly alarmed by food crises such as coronavirus and African swine fever.

    China’s most cosmopolitan cities are now home to social media groups, websites and communities dedicated to meat-free lifestyles. VegeRadar, for example, has compiled comprehensive maps of vegetarian and vegan restaurants all across China. According to a report by the Good Food Institute, China’s plant-based meat market was estimated at 6.1bn yuan (£675m) in 2018 and projected to grow between 20 and 25% annually.

    Yun Fanwei, a 25-year-old student from Shanghai, is one of a new breed of vegetarians hungry for more options. “I buy some of these fake meat products and a lot of them are pretty good. They don’t necessarily taste like meat, but it makes a nice change from tofu,” she said.

    Eating meat has been closely connected with the growing affluence of China. In the 1960s, the average Chinese person consumed 5kg of meat a year. This had shot up to 20kg by the time of former leader Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening” of the late 1970s, and to 48kg by 2015.


    A woman smells meat before buying it at Xihua farmer’s market in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. After the coronavirus outbreak China brought in new regulations on the trade and consumption of wild animals. Photograph: Alex Plavevski/EPA
    But in 2016, as part of its pledge to bring down carbon emissions, the Chinese government outlined a plan to cut the country’s meat intake by 50%. It was a radical move, and so far very few other governments around the world have included meat consumption in their carbon-reduction plans.

    The new guidelines, which called on citizens to consume just 40-75g of meat a day, were promoted with a series of public information adverts featuring the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and director James Cameron. Since then there have been few other concrete steps taken, other than the president, Xi Jinping, last August launching a “clean plate campaign” aimed at reducing the “shocking and distressing” 40% of food that goes straight from Chinese dinner tables into the bin. Some commentators speculated that asking Chinese citizens to reduce their meat consumption was felt to be particularly unpopular.

    But alternative proteins are seen as a possible route forwards. Last year at the annual “two sessions” parliament, Sun Baoguo, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, called for more investment in and regulation and promotion of artificial meat.

    Some of the biggest international chains operating in China have been quick to bet on the growth of alternative meats. KFC is now selling vegan chicken nuggets, Burger King is offering an Impossible Whopper, and Starbucks is serving Beyond Meat pastas, salads and wraps.

    But domestic companies are setting up shop too, betting that state backing will come soon, not least because the government may see alternative proteins as a way to let citizens continue to have the “luxury” of meat while also moving towards its carbon-reduction goals. That optimism has led to several Chinese competitors entering the market alongside international powerhouses such as Cargill, Unilever and Nestlé, as well as the vegan meat poster-children Impossible and Beyond.


    Packets of plant-based OmniPork on sale at a Green Common plant-based grocery store in Hong Kong. Photograph: Getty Images
    OmniFoods, which launched in Hong Kong in 2018, is one of a band of regional startups jostling for market share, having recently opened a multi-brand vegan shop and restaurant in Shanghai and secured its signature product, OmniPork, in McDonald’s in Hong Kong and Aldi, White Castle and Starbucks on the mainland. The company, which plans to operate in 13 countries this year, also just completed its UK soft launch for Veganuary, during which OmniPork was turned into everything from scotch eggs to Korean bibimbap at participating restaurants.

    The OmniFoods founder, David Yeung, hopes the opening of a China-based factory next year will help bring down the price of his products. Plant-based proteins currently cost much more than their meat counterparts, a major barrier when it comes to getting China’s notoriously thrifty shoppers to make the switch. “Obviously minimising logistics and middle parties and creating economies of scale will have a big impact on the value chain. As we cut these expenses in China, we foresee a significant price drop,” Yeung said.

    Shanghai-based Z-Rou produces a plant-based mince substitute which is already in the canteens of some of China’s top international schools, hospitals and businesses. Its CEO, Franklin Yao, is targeting opinion leaders and middle-class consumers who can afford to make conscious choices. “They would even be willing to pay more as they know they’re getting a healthier product that’s helping ensure the future of the planet their children are inheriting. That’s priceless.”


    A chef makes spaghetti bolognese with plant-based OmniPork as David Yeung, the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Green Monday, looks on at the Kind Kitchen restaurant in Hong Kong. Photograph: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg/Getty Images
    Other China players include Zhenmeat, which makes plant-based beef, pork and crayfish, and Starfield, whose seaweed-based mince alternative has been turned into dishes at some of China’s leading restaurant chains.

    Yao admits the industry is still very small in China but he thinks meat-free substitutes will become mainstream very soon. “Chinese consumers are actively looking for more sustainable products. While the link between meat and the environment is still weak among the majority of the population, the interest is there and China learns fast.”

    But weaning people off meat may prove harder than some of these companies would like to think. “I’ve tried a vegetarian braised pork dish before but it’s not the same as real meat,” said 64-year-old retiree Bao Gege. “The taste, texture and nutritional values are not comparable. I wouldn’t try it again, even if it was cheaper than meat.”
    threads
    the-Kentucky-Fried-Thread
    Vegan-Vegetarian
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  9. #99
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    Busted KFC scammers

    Chinese Students Found a Way to Eat KFC for Free. It Didn’t End Well.
    How far would you go for free fried chicken?

    By Viola Zhou
    May 12, 2021, 3:17am


    SEVERAL CHINESE STUDENTS EXPLOITED A LOOPHOLE TO GET FREE MEALS FROM THE FRIED CHICKEN CHAIN. PHOTO: ZHANG PENG/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
    Five students in China have been jailed for taking advantage of a loophole in KFC’s online ordering systems to get free meals and resell them for profits.

    The students were recently sentenced to up to two and a half years in prison for swindling KFC out of more than $30,000 worth of food, Chinese news outlet Thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday, citing the Xuhui district court in Shanghai.

    A 23-year-old university student surnamed Xu first spotted the loophole in April 2018. He accidentally found out that he could get free food by paying for food using coupons in one KFC app and seeking a refund of the coupons immediately using another app.

    Since then, Xu had been getting free food at KFC for himself and reselling the coupons online, according to the report. He also reportedly shared knowledge about the apps’ flaws with four of his schoolmates.

    From April to October that year, the free food Xu ordered cost KFC about $9,000, and the other four students each caused losses ranging from $1,400 to $7,300 to the company, the court said.

    The court ruled that the five had committed fraud and the crime of imparting criminal methods by taking advantage of the data mismatch in KFC’s ordering systems.

    They received prison terms ranging from 15 to 30 months, and were ordered to pay fines ranging from $155 to $930.

    Responding to trending reports about the case, some internet users say the sentences levied on the students were too harsh, arguing that KFC’s online ordering gaps should be blamed.

    KFC is one of the most popular fast-food chains in China. The brand has more than 7,000 stores in China, compared with about 4,000 in the United States.

    Follow Viola Zhou on Twitter.
    When it comes to dumb reasons to go to prison, this is way up there.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #100
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    Psyduck

    KFC China's dancing Psyduck toy becomes viral sensation selling for up to $200

    William Yuk
    Tue, May 31, 2022, 4:50 PM·2 min read



    To the surprise of KFC China marketers, the breakout star from their line of Pokémon toys was not series mascot Pikachu, but rather the dopey-looking and perpetually migraine-stricken Psyduck.

    In celebration of Children’s Day on June 1, the fast-food chain introduced a set of three Pokémon toys, two of Pikachu and one of Psyduck, to be paired with its kids’ meals in China. The Psyduck toy, which dances along to a catchy tune, has become the center of the country’s latest social media craze. The Psyduck hashtag, #可达鸭, has climbed to over 135 million views. The sold-out toy is reselling for up to $200.

    The #Psyduck frenzy, one of the most successful marketing strategies this year, has even caught #KFC by surprise. A KFC source tells me they had expected #Pikachu to be the star and regretted not ordering more Psyducks. But they are glad that Psyducks are bringing joy to people. https://t.co/EyG9xD3QH8

    — Yang Liu (@yangliuxh) May 28, 2022

    The figure, which is larger than typical kids’ meal toy offerings, has sparked a trend where social media users post videos of the dancing Psyduck with written messages attached to its arms. Such sentiments range from not wanting to work to frustrations over the country’s COVID-19 policies.

    Even public figures like He Xiaopeng, founder of XPeng Motors, have taken to social media with Psyduck videos of their own. He’s video expressed his global chip shortage headaches with Psyduck waving a message reading “urgently seeking semiconductor chips.”

    For Chinese netizens, KFC’s dancing Psyduck is not only a toy, but a means to express themselves.

    "I've been locked in my place for two months,” tech worker Jun Peng told Reuters, “I am so stressed that I feel as silly as the duck. However even the duck can speak out."
    That last line says it all...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #101
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,907

    Kentucky Kristallnacht

    KFC apologises after German Kristallnacht promotion
    Published
    7 hours ago

    PA MEDIA
    By Alex Binley
    BBC News
    KFC has apologised after sending a promotional message to customers in Germany, urging them to commemorate Kristallnacht with cheesy chicken.
    The Nazi-led series of attacks in the country in 1938 left more than 90 people dead, and destroyed Jewish-owned businesses and places of worship.
    It is widely seen as the beginning of the Holocaust.
    The message, heavily criticised for its insensitivity, was later blamed on "an error in our system".
    The fast food chain sent an app alert on Wednesday, saying: "It's memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!"
    Around an hour later another message was sent with an apology, according to the Bild newspaper.
    "We are very sorry, we will check our internal processes immediately so that this does not happen again. Please excuse this error," the message is reported to have said.
    Germany takes the 9 November anniversary of Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) seriously, with numerous memorial events and discussions scheduled to reflect the Nazis' murder of more than six million Jewish people.
    Daniel Sugarman, Director of Public Affairs at the Board of Deputies of British Jews described the original KFC message as "absolutely hideous".
    Dalia Grinfeld, the associate director of European affairs at the Jewish NGO Anti-Defamation League, tweeted: "How wrong can you get on Kristallnacht KFC Germany. Shame on you!"
    In a statement issued to Newsweek magazine, KFC Germany blamed the message on a bot.
    The fast food chain said the "automated push notification" was "linked to calendars that include national observances".
    It added that it "sincerely" apologised for the "unplanned, insensitive and unacceptable message" and said app communications had been suspended while an examination of them takes place.
    "We understand and respect the gravity and history of this day, and remain committed to equity, inclusion and belonging for all," the company finished by saying.
    This is what happens when you let AI run your App...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  12. #102
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,907

    incensed... good one


    Poor taste? Thai KFC fans incensed by now-deleted Lunar New Year promo

    Incense has multiple ceremonial uses in Chinese culture, including to honour the dead.

    by HONG KONG FREE PRESS
    09:00, 16 JANUARY 2023

    Fast food giant KFC has incensed its Thai customers with a now-deleted Lunar New Year promo which many found to be in poor taste.


    Photo: KFC Thailand via Instagram.
    Ahead of the festive season, the eatery shared an Instagram promotion for its new fried chicken incense sticks. It is unclear if the product was real, but each stick reportedly contained 11 herbs and spices to mimic the smell of its fried food, according to news portal Thaiger.

    Incense has multiple ceremonial uses in Chinese culture, including to honour the dead.

    “[O]ur ancestor can enjoy the scent of KFC…” wrote one Instagram commenter. “That’s so inappropriate,” wrote another user.

    “So many things wrong with this. You’d that they would know Chinese culture better,” one Twitter reaction read.

    Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien, was among those who shared the promotional material, accompanied by the exclamation: “Wah…”

    The blunder comes a year after UK newspaper the Observer faced flak for using Chinese funeral joss paper in a “cursed” Lunar New Year food feature.
    the-Kentucky-Fried-Thread
    2023-Year-of-the-Rabbit
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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