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KFC has more than 4，600 restaurants in China. The company’s financial performance has been negatively impacted by food safety scandals in China. Yum Brands’ China division declined 6% in the first quarter of 2015.
Food safety issues in the Chinese supply chain， from chicken to fodder， are widespread. No single company can preserve its reputation in such an indus- trial chain.
KFC owner says business affected worse than expected by chicken scare.
Yum Brands， the parent company of KFC has been trying to regain consumers in China， which accounts approximately 50% of its revenue.
KFC Sues Firms in China over Eight-legged Chicken Rumors
Kentucky Fried Chicken （KFC）， the quick-service restaurant brand owned by Yum！ Brands， Inc. filed a lawsuit against three companies in China. KFC alleged that the Chinese companies are spreading rumors on social media regarding its food quality， including chickens with eight legs.
According to KFC， the rumors were strange and non-sense.
In its Chinese website， KFC strong-ly rejected the rumors that it is using genetically modified chickens with six wings and eight legs as strange and nonsense. It said that it has filed lawsuits against three Chinese companies， whose social media accounts spread false claims about the quality of its food， including that its chickens have eight legs.
In an announcement posted on its Chinese website， KFC said one of the best-known fake rumors was that chickens used by the company are genetically modified and have six wings and eight legs.
KFC， a unit of the United Statesbased Yum Brands Inc， said lawsuits have been brought against 10 public accounts of the three companies that spread rumors.
KFC asked for a maximum compensation of 1.5 million yuan （$242，000） from a defendant company in Shenzhen and 1 million each from two defendant companies in Shanxi province， and an apology from each of three companies that operated accounts on the popular mobile phone app WeChat.
It is also seeking an immediate stop to their infringements. Shanghai Xuhui District People’s Court has accepted the case， according to a press officer who would only give her surname， Wu.
Ms， Qu Cuirong， president of KFC in China said the rumor about the chickens with six wings and eight legs has been circulating since 2008. It started in the form of mail， BBS for the first two years， and now the Chinese companies are spreading rumors about it through microblogs and micro letters in social media.
KFC argued that the Chinese firms that the three Chinese companies damaged its reputation by spreading false rumors regarding its products on social media. The restaurant operator said the Chinese companies are “misleading consumers” using ten micro-channel accounts through articles， microblogs， and photos.
The companies being sued were named as Shanxi Weilukuang Technology Company Ltd.， Taiyuan Zero Point Technology Company and Yingchenanzhi Success and Culture Communication Ltd. in Shenzhen city. Calls to numbers listed for the companies either rang unanswered or were not valid.
Online rumors of KFC’s eightlegged chicken
It’s Hard to Collect Evidence
KFC said in its complaint that it was hard for companies to protect their brands against rumors because of the difficulties in collecting evidence.
It said the three companies had operated the accounts on the popular mobile phone app WeChat and this was a major obstacle for gathering evidence.
By the end of April， there were more than 4，000 postings against KFC on the public WeChat accounts. At least 130 accounts had such postings wherein the viewer numbers exceeded 100，000.
“It is not only seriously misleading consumers， but also harms the brand，”said a statement issued by KFC.
The postings against KFC include a story that chicken raised at the KFC farms were genetically modified and had six wings and eight legs.
Companies are experiencing difficulty in protecting their reputation on the internet. The restaurant operator mentioned the “burden of proof”against the entities spreading the rumors as one of the challenges， and the reason as to why it took a long time for KFC to file legal charges.
Tencent Holdings Ltd， the company which operates the WeChat service， declined to comment on the issue.
The legal dispute comes amid Tencent’s own efforts to fight rumors on the WeChat platform.
In March， the social-networking giant issued a set of regulations that detail inappropriate and illegal behavior that are forbidden on WeChat. It said any- one who takes advantage of the instant messaging platform to spread rumors will be punished.
To curb the prevalence of rumors， WeChat also established a mechanism by partnering with public media accounts， which release official statements as soon as a rumor is detected on the platform. Despite these efforts， analysts said it is next to impossible to stamp out rumors given the massive user base of WeChat.
The platform has 500 million active users， while corporate public accounts on the platform exceeded 5.8 million as of July 2014.
Yang Guang， who is in charge of security issues on WeChat， said in an April meeting that： “It is difficult to root out rumors but WeChat will spare no efforts to deal with them.”
YumBrands Tries to At-tract More Customers in China
Yum Brands， the parent company of Taco Bell， KFC and Pizza Hut， has been struggling in China， where sales declined 6 percent in the first quarter， while same-store sales fell 12 percent.
The result was an improvement over the 16 percent same-store sales decline in the last quarter of 2014， and the company still insists it plans to add at least 700 new stores in China.
Yum has launched several initiatives to attract more customers in China including a high-end restaurant Atto Primo in Shanghai.
McDonald’s Corp， the world’s largest fast-food chain， is to close 350 stores globally， including 220 in China and the United States.
Analysts said customers in China have been slow to forget recent food scandals， one of which involved a major supplier of meat to fast-food companies including McDonald’s and Yum， which was shut down for allegedly violating numerous safety regulations.
China Intensifies Campaign against Internet Rumors
KFC’s China CEO Qu Cuirong said in a statement that it was hard for companies to protect their brands against rumors because of the difficulties in collecting evidence. “But the steppedup efforts by the government in recent years to purify the online environment， as well as some judicial interpretations， have offered us confidence and weapons，” she said.
According to the restaurant operator， the Chinese government issued legal guidelines regarding the matter， which provided KFC confidence and weapon to defend and protect its reputation.
The case filed by China’s biggest restaurant operator comes as the government intensifies a campaign to clean up rumors on social media. Internet marketers have been convicted of trying to manipulate online sentiment on behalf of clients by posting false information about competitors or deleting critical posts.
Authorities launched a renewed campaign two years ago to clean up what they called online rumors， negativity and unruliness. Critics say the campaign was largely aimed at suppressing criticism of the ruling Communist Party. Commentaries in state media have argued that a cleanup was needed.
Food safety issues in the Chinese supply chain， from chicken to fodder， are widespread. No single company can preserve its reputation in such an indus- trial chain.
KFC owner says business affected worse than expected by chicken scare.
Yum Brands， the parent company of KFC has been trying to regain consumers in China， which accounts approximately 50% of its revenue.
KFC Sues Firms in China over Eight-legged Chicken Rumors
Kentucky Fried Chicken （KFC）， the quick-service restaurant brand owned by Yum！ Brands， Inc. filed a lawsuit against three companies in China. KFC alleged that the Chinese companies are spreading rumors on social media regarding its food quality， including chickens with eight legs.
According to KFC， the rumors were strange and non-sense.
In its Chinese website， KFC strong-ly rejected the rumors that it is using genetically modified chickens with six wings and eight legs as strange and nonsense. It said that it has filed lawsuits against three Chinese companies， whose social media accounts spread false claims about the quality of its food， including that its chickens have eight legs.
In an announcement posted on its Chinese website， KFC said one of the best-known fake rumors was that chickens used by the company are genetically modified and have six wings and eight legs.
KFC， a unit of the United Statesbased Yum Brands Inc， said lawsuits have been brought against 10 public accounts of the three companies that spread rumors.
KFC asked for a maximum compensation of 1.5 million yuan （$242，000） from a defendant company in Shenzhen and 1 million each from two defendant companies in Shanxi province， and an apology from each of three companies that operated accounts on the popular mobile phone app WeChat.
It is also seeking an immediate stop to their infringements. Shanghai Xuhui District People’s Court has accepted the case， according to a press officer who would only give her surname， Wu.
Ms， Qu Cuirong， president of KFC in China said the rumor about the chickens with six wings and eight legs has been circulating since 2008. It started in the form of mail， BBS for the first two years， and now the Chinese companies are spreading rumors about it through microblogs and micro letters in social media.
KFC argued that the Chinese firms that the three Chinese companies damaged its reputation by spreading false rumors regarding its products on social media. The restaurant operator said the Chinese companies are “misleading consumers” using ten micro-channel accounts through articles， microblogs， and photos.
The companies being sued were named as Shanxi Weilukuang Technology Company Ltd.， Taiyuan Zero Point Technology Company and Yingchenanzhi Success and Culture Communication Ltd. in Shenzhen city. Calls to numbers listed for the companies either rang unanswered or were not valid.
Online rumors of KFC’s eightlegged chicken
It’s Hard to Collect Evidence
KFC said in its complaint that it was hard for companies to protect their brands against rumors because of the difficulties in collecting evidence.
It said the three companies had operated the accounts on the popular mobile phone app WeChat and this was a major obstacle for gathering evidence.
By the end of April， there were more than 4，000 postings against KFC on the public WeChat accounts. At least 130 accounts had such postings wherein the viewer numbers exceeded 100，000.
“It is not only seriously misleading consumers， but also harms the brand，”said a statement issued by KFC.
The postings against KFC include a story that chicken raised at the KFC farms were genetically modified and had six wings and eight legs.
Companies are experiencing difficulty in protecting their reputation on the internet. The restaurant operator mentioned the “burden of proof”against the entities spreading the rumors as one of the challenges， and the reason as to why it took a long time for KFC to file legal charges.
Tencent Holdings Ltd， the company which operates the WeChat service， declined to comment on the issue.
The legal dispute comes amid Tencent’s own efforts to fight rumors on the WeChat platform.
In March， the social-networking giant issued a set of regulations that detail inappropriate and illegal behavior that are forbidden on WeChat. It said any- one who takes advantage of the instant messaging platform to spread rumors will be punished.
To curb the prevalence of rumors， WeChat also established a mechanism by partnering with public media accounts， which release official statements as soon as a rumor is detected on the platform. Despite these efforts， analysts said it is next to impossible to stamp out rumors given the massive user base of WeChat.
The platform has 500 million active users， while corporate public accounts on the platform exceeded 5.8 million as of July 2014.
Yang Guang， who is in charge of security issues on WeChat， said in an April meeting that： “It is difficult to root out rumors but WeChat will spare no efforts to deal with them.”
YumBrands Tries to At-tract More Customers in China
Yum Brands， the parent company of Taco Bell， KFC and Pizza Hut， has been struggling in China， where sales declined 6 percent in the first quarter， while same-store sales fell 12 percent.
The result was an improvement over the 16 percent same-store sales decline in the last quarter of 2014， and the company still insists it plans to add at least 700 new stores in China.
Yum has launched several initiatives to attract more customers in China including a high-end restaurant Atto Primo in Shanghai.
McDonald’s Corp， the world’s largest fast-food chain， is to close 350 stores globally， including 220 in China and the United States.
Analysts said customers in China have been slow to forget recent food scandals， one of which involved a major supplier of meat to fast-food companies including McDonald’s and Yum， which was shut down for allegedly violating numerous safety regulations.
China Intensifies Campaign against Internet Rumors
KFC’s China CEO Qu Cuirong said in a statement that it was hard for companies to protect their brands against rumors because of the difficulties in collecting evidence. “But the steppedup efforts by the government in recent years to purify the online environment， as well as some judicial interpretations， have offered us confidence and weapons，” she said.
According to the restaurant operator， the Chinese government issued legal guidelines regarding the matter， which provided KFC confidence and weapon to defend and protect its reputation.
The case filed by China’s biggest restaurant operator comes as the government intensifies a campaign to clean up rumors on social media. Internet marketers have been convicted of trying to manipulate online sentiment on behalf of clients by posting false information about competitors or deleting critical posts.
Authorities launched a renewed campaign two years ago to clean up what they called online rumors， negativity and unruliness. Critics say the campaign was largely aimed at suppressing criticism of the ruling Communist Party. Commentaries in state media have argued that a cleanup was needed.