Urban Legends

Kentucky Fried Chicken Rat Tail

Fast-food chains, like Jollibee and McDonalds, have been subject to urban legends. These stories only focus on the foods they serve to their customers. All of them tell that, These restaurants are filthy, serving their gross meals to their loyal buyers. 

Actually, one of my readers contributed one urban legend about Kentucky Fried Chicken (more commonly known asKFC). Thanks to him. 

Finger Lickin' Myth

A famous fast-food chain whose specialty are fried chicken has an urban legend too. In a certain branch of the mentioned fast-food store, a customer ordered one piece of their world renowned fried chicken. When the patron was about to eat the meal, he/she noticed that it had a string-like object attached to the meat. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a tail... of a rat, a FRIED RAT! The customer complained the tainted meat to the manager who speculated that a rat might have slipped and fell into the frier. The management offered a certain amount of cash to this person and also a brand new car to keep his/her mouth shut. I think it was a failed attempt to silence the person as the story got out.

The above story is similar to some stories in USA: (I got this from Snopes.com) 

[Collected by Fine, 1976] 

An old lady ordered out for Kentucky Fried Chicken. She was eating along when she noticed teeth; she pulled back the crust and discovered she was eating a rat. She had a heart attack and died, and her relatives sued Kentucky Fried Chicken for a lot of money. 

[Collected by Fine, 1977] 

There was a wife who didn't have anything ready for supper for her husband. So she quick got a basket of chicken and tried to make her dinner look fancy with the pre-pared chicken. Thus, she fixed a candle-light dinner, etc. When her and her husband started eating the chicken, they thought it tasted funny. Soon to find out it was a fried rat.

According to Snopes.com:

... The choice of a rat as a contaminant is easy: rats have turned up in food products before; they're the right size and shape to be mistaken for pieces of chicken (especially when fried in batter); and rats are vermin, symbols of filth and decay. The fact that the rat-chicken is usually eaten in the dark is a plot device to prevent premature discovery of the "secret," although some might consider it an important symbolic aspect of the legend.

Well, perhaps the only reason why these stories rise because of customer loyalty competition. I remember the story of the Cat - As the Main Ingredient of Siopao. I wrote there:

... (This is just) a kind of business technique on winning customers' favor over the said restaurant, thus they told false stories circulated in the city.