KFC in India - Ethical

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"Each bird whom KFC puts into a box or a bucket had a miserable life and a frightening death. People would be shocked to see our footage of a KFC supplier's employee who walks through a barn, carelessly lighting lamps and letting flames fall on the terrified birds. The air inside these filthy barns reeks of ammonia fumes, making it difficult for the birds to breathe. No one with a grain of compassion should set foot in KFC." ¹

- Ingrid Newkirk, Director, PETA.²

"The chicken they serve is full of chemicals, and the birds are given hormones, antibiotics and arsenic chemicals to fatten them quickly." ³

- Nanjundaswamy.⁴

Protest Against KFC

On August 20, 2003, a five-foot tall chicken complete with an ensemble of feathers and beak hobbled on a pair of crutches outside Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC) Indian outlet in Bangalore.

The chicken was brought by PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) activists, who carried placards reading, "Quit India" and "Stop Playing Fowl" (a pun on "Foul"). The chicken was placed at the centre and a peaceful protest was held against the alleged ill treatment of birds in KFC's poultry farms. Media persons were called to give the demonstration a wide coverage (Refer Exhibit I for a visual on the protest by PETA activists). Explaining the rationale behind the protest, Bijal Vachcharajani, special projects coordinator of PETA, said, "Ours is the land of Gandhi. Just as 61 years back our leaders gave a call for colonizers to quit India, we too are saying we will not tolerate cruel multinationals."5

On the 61st anniversary of the 'Quit India' movement,⁶ PETA India wrote a letter to the Managing Director of Tricon Restaurant International, the parent company of KFC, asking them to close their sole KFC outlet in India.

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1] "PETA Reveals Shocking Cruelty to Animals at KFC Factory Chicken Farm," Bijal Vachcharajani, www.petaindia.com, October 09, 2003.

2] Founded in the US in 1980, with more than 800,000 members and offices in the US, England, Italy, Germany and Mumbai, PETA is the largest animal rights organization in the world. It focuses primarily on areas where the greatest numbers of animals suffer the most: in the food and leather industries, in laboratories and in the entertainment industry. PETA undertakes investigative work, public education, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement and international media coverage for the protection and improvement of the quality of animal lives. PETA India, based in Mumbai, was launched in January 2000.

3] "Tandoori vs. Kentucky Fried," Shakuntala Narasimhan, Multinational Monitor, January/February 1996.

4] Prof. Nanjundaswamy is the founder-leader of the Karnataka Rajya Ryota Sangha (KRRS). Apart from his campaign against KFC, he also organized a campaign in South India against global seed patenting provisions of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

5] "Crippled Chicken Alleges Cruelty, Asks KFC to Quit India," www.newindpress.com, August 20, 2003.

6] The Quit India Movement, which started on August 09, 1942, is an important milestone in the history of India's struggle for freedom from British rule.

7] With revenues of $17.1 bn in the fiscal year 2003, McDonald's is the world's largest food service company with more than 30,000 restaurants in 100 countries, serving more than 46 million customers every day. McDonald's entered India in October 1996. It has restaurants in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Noida, Faridabad, Doraha, Manesar and Gurgaon.

8] The US- based Burger King is an international fast food chain founded by James W. McLamore and David Edgerton in Miami in 1954. It was renamed Burger King Corporation in 1972. In 2004, the company had more than 11,220 restaurants in 61 countries worldwide.