SCRAP whatever lunch plans you had today because KFC will be handing out free fried chicken to thousands of poultry fans in Sydney.
The massive giveaway, which is part of the chain’s 50th anniversary in Australia celebrations, will take place at Circular Quay next to the Overseas Passenger Terminal between midday and 3pm.
The fried goodness will be given out from a gigantic 6m-tall, 7m-wide KFC chicken bucket while a DJ plays music from the past 50 years.
KFC will be giving out free pieces of its Original Recipe chicken served in “limited edition 50th buckets” to mark the occasion.
The chain first launched in Guildford on April 27, 1968, with an Australian staff base of just 25 people.
A dinner box of three pieces of chicken, whipped potato and gravy, coleslaw and a roll would set you back $1.30.
Today, a box containing three drumsticks, chips, mash and gravy, a roll and soft drink is more than $11. A big jump indeed, but according the Reserve Bank’s inflation calculator that box should cost almost $16 now adjusting for inflation, so in real terms it’s actually become cheaper.
A bucket of 21 pieces of chicken cost $5.20 in the 1960s — today that’s jumped to $34.95.
From one Kentucky Fried Chicken store in western Sydney, the chain, now known as KFC, has 640 stores around Australia, serves two million customers a week and deep fries 50 million kilograms of drumsticks, nuggets and burgers annually.
After passing through multiple owners over the years, including Pepsi, the chain is now part of Yum Brands which also looks after Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
The moustachioed founder of KFC visited Australia in 1970 to spruik his new stores. Colonel Sanders made appearances at KFC outlets up to just a few weeks before his death in 1980. He is now buried in his trademark white suit in Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city.
Hopefully the chain will have enough chicken to supply the demand for free meat today after what happened to their stores in the UK and Ireland earlier this year.
The embarrassing fail afflicted 900 stores for weeks when KFC switched from its usual logistics supplier to another venue.
It wasn’t just chicken — gravy was also in short supply.
This article was republished here with permission by Ben Graham and Benedict Brook for news.com.au.
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