Donald Trump is a known fast-food lover — but the fast-food industry hasn't always reciprocated the warm feelings.

On Thursday morning, McDonald's corporate account tweeted "@realDonaldTrump You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have @BarackObama back, also you have tiny hands."

The tweet, which McDonald's has since deleted and said was a result of a "compromised" account, must have stung the president, who has made his love for the fast-food industry known for decades.

Before Trump launched his political career, the businessman had a side gig acting in fast-food commercials.

In 1995, Trump starred in a Pizza Hut commercial with his ex-wife Ivana, three years after the duo's divorce. The ad is filled with innuendo-laden dialogue, with the pair musing that it "feels so right" — to eat pizza crust first.

However, more pertinent to today's tweet is a 2002 McDonald's commercial starring Trump. 

"I've put together some really impressive deals, but this thing you've pulled off, it's amazing," Trump tells McDonald's purple mascot, Grimace, referring to McDonald's Dollar Menu. 

"Together, Grimace, we could own this town," Trump says to the creature, embracing him as they look over New York City from Trump Tower. 

Trump's appreciation for McDonald's isn't just in the form of advertisements. The president seems to have a genuine appreciation for fast food. 

In 1995, Trump tried to force Madonna and fashion designer Donatella Versace to eat KFC with him while the duo were staying at Mar-a-Lago, Versace told Vogue. Twenty-one years later, Trump's love affair with KFC still appears to be going strong. Trump tweeted a photo of himself enjoying a bucket of chicken while campaigning in August on his plane. 

McDonald's also made an appearance on Trump's campaign in an Instagram of the then-presidential candidate eating a burger and fries from the fast-food giant. 

In February 2016, Trump told Anderson Cooper that McDonald's was "great stuff" during a Republican presidential town hall. 

At the crux of Trump's appreciation for fast food is chains' uniform cleanliness. 

"One bad hamburger, you can destroy McDonald's. One bad hamburger and you take Wendy's and all these other places and they're out of business,"he said at the town hall. "I like cleanliness, and I think you're better off going there than maybe some place that you have no idea where the food is coming from."

The fast-food industry hasn't always loved Donald Trump back. The food and beverage industry donated just $152,000 to Trump's campaign as of last September, compared to the $1 million the industry gave to Clinton's campaign, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

There was one fast-food CEO who supported Trump. Andy Puzder, CEO of Hardee's and Carl's Jr. parent company CKE Restaurants, served as Trump's economic advisor and the president's pick for secretary of labor. However, after criticism from labor organizations regarding CKE's labor practices and allegations that Puzder abused his ex-wife, the CEO ultimately withdrew his name for consideration.

Trump has never praised Carl's Jr. or Hardee's the way that he's vocally celebrated KFC and McDonald's. Perhaps the president was trying to avoid a conflict of interest — or maybe he just has some loyalty when it comes to fast-food chains he's enjoyed for more than 20 years. 

SEE ALSO: McDonald's Twitter account calls Trump 'disgusting' with 'tiny hands'

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The CEO of Taco Bell's parent company said Tuesday that machines could replace human workers in 10 years.

"I don't think it is going to happen next year or the year after, but I do believe that probably by the mid '20s to the late '20s, you'll start to see a dramatic change in sort of how machines run the world," Greg Creed, CEO of Yum Brands, told CNBC. 

Yum owns a handful of fast-food companies including KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. 

The fast-food industry is already using technology to supplement or replace human workers through the use of tablets and smartphone apps that allow customers to order their food without interacting with any employees.

But robots and "smart" computers aren't just threatening the jobs of fast-food workers.

They could replace up to half the US workforce within the next decade or two, according to an Oxford University study from 2013.

The study identified more than 700 occupations at risk of computer automation.

Here are the jobs that are most at risk, based on the study.

SEE ALSO: The company that owns Olive Garden just placed a $780 million bet on a tiny restaurant chain

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Yum Brands Inc's U.S. KFC chain plans to curb the use of antibiotics in its chicken supply, making it the last of the big three chicken restaurants to join the fight against the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as superbugs.

KFC, the second-biggest U.S. chicken chain by sales after privately held Chick-fil-A, is giving its U.S. poultry suppliers until the end of 2018 to stop using antibiotics important to human medicine.

Some 70 percent of antibiotics vital for fighting infections in humans are sold for use in meat and dairy production and medical researchers have concerns that overuse of those drugs may diminish their effectiveness in fighting disease in humans.

McDonald's Corp's roughly 14,000 U.S. restaurants last year stopped serving chicken raised with antibiotics considered important to human medicine. Its Chicken McNuggets are a top seller and the change put pressure on the rest of the industry to follow.

Chick-fil-A is going a step further, vowing in 2014 to switch to poultry raised without any antibiotics at all by the end of 2019.

Given its stature, KFC had been the focus of several antibiotic reduction campaigns by consumer, health and environment groups in addition to a coalition of British and U.S. shareholders with more than $2 trillion in assets under management.

"We recognize that it's a growing public health concern," KFC U.S. President Kevin Hochman told Reuters on Thursday.

"This is something that's important to many of our customers and it's something we need to do to show relevance and modernity within our brand," Hochman said.

The policy applies only to KFC in the United States and its 4,200 restaurants supplied by some 2,000 domestic chicken farms, said Hochman. KFC's antibiotic policy is set on a country-by-country basis, he added. Yum spun off its KFC-dominated China division in November.

'GREAT NEWS FOR FRIED CHICKEN LOVERS'

Vijay Sukumar, chief food innovation officer for KFC U.S., said the new policy applies throughout the bird's full life cycle, which includes the hatchery where chicks are sometimes injected with antibiotics while still in the shell.

Using data from a 2017 WATT PoultryUSA survey, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that more than 42 percent of the U.S. chicken industry is either under an antibiotics stewardship pledge or has already converted to responsible practices.

KFC's new policy will likely move the number even higher, said Lena Brook, a food policy advocate at the NRDC, who noted that the estimate includes "raised without antibiotics" pledges as well as "raised without medically important" antibiotics pledges from producers like Tyson Foods Inc <TSN.N>, Perdue Farms and others.

"It's great news for fried chicken lovers, and most importantly it's great news for public health," Brook said. "Their commitment is one that we've been waiting for."

Human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a grave threat to global health and are estimated to kill at least 23,000 Americans each year, although a recent Reuters investigation found that many infection-related deaths are going uncounted.

Hochman said the policy change has been in the works for a year. It will add some incremental cost that KFC plans to manage rather than pass on in the form of menu price increases, he said.

At least some of KFC suppliers are already well on their way to compliance.

Tyson, the largest U.S. poultry producer and a KFC supplier, has announced plans to eliminate the use of human antibiotics in its chicken flocks by September 2017.

Yum's Taco Bell chain already committed to serve chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine in all U.S. restaurants by the end of last month. Its Pizza Hut division has the same rules for pizza toppings.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Rigby)

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NOW WATCH: The owner of New York’s oldest deli explains how Katz’s is able to sell 15,000 pounds of pastrami a week

8. KFC

While KFC’s invention of the Mashed Potato Bowl changed the entire concept of what fast food could be, and their innovations in the field of poultry buns should be lauded, their tenders are typically dry. Due largely to their lack of consistency, the non-uniform sizing causes irregular cook times among skinny and thick tenders. The Ol’ Colonel’s secret eleven herbs (ft. spices) recipe never translated well over to tenders. But, for background, KFC used to have the Extra Crispy™ Strips, then replaced them with the Original Recipe® Strips. The difference, other than the texture, is that the Extra Crispy™ Strips are only seasoned with salt and pepper, and are intended to be paired with a dipping sauce. They never had a chance. KFC? More like Kentucky Fail Chicken. (And with that, please be sure to like and share this article.)

7. Chick-fil-A

It's amazing how phenomenal Chick-fil-A’s nuggets are, but how poor their tenders are. It’s like when they decided to expand their menu, S. Truett Cathy, in his genius senility, suggested “What if we took what we did best and then did the opposite?” They have revamped the recipe a few times since they first introduced them, with the most recent version actually making them a viable option if you were starving to death, and that particular Chick-fil-A restaurant you were at happened to be sold out of everything else. That signature CFA crunchiness is nowhere to be found, resulting in a scalene mush-clump that is—technically—a chicken tender. No amount of 100% peanut oil can save it.

6. Long John Silver's

One day, we’ll need to have a discussion about how Long John Silver’s is one of the most underrated fast-food restaurants to ever exist. We know what you’re thinking: “LJS is seafood.” Except they aren’t. Two words: Chicken Plank. The reason they belong on this list is that tempura batter, designed for seafood but adapts to poultry with grace and finesse. There are no less than 500 imitation recipes for it on the World Wide Web. Airy, crispy, the batter insulates their Chicken Plank like a culinary FUPA. Its flaw, however, is that it requires a sauce accoutrement and cannot stand on its own. We might have been able to rank them higher on the list if they hadn’t started charging for extra loose crispies a few years back.

The secret to Chick-fil-A's success is as simple as saying "please" and "thank you."

The chicken chain is statistically the most polite chain in the restaurant business, according to a QSR Magazine's annual drive-thru report released in October.

Employees at Chick-fil-A were the most likely of the 15 chains surveyed to say "please" and "thank you," and to smile at drive-thru customers. Chick-fil-A workers were also as the second most likely to have a "pleasant demeanor," only topped by the up-and-coming fast-food chain PDQ.

According to the report, Chick-fil-A employees said "thank you" in 95.2% of drive-thru encounters, based on data from nearly 2,000 visits to 15 restaurant chains.

For comparison, KFC had a "thank you" rate of 84.9%. McDonald's rate was 78.4%, putting it in 14th place out of the 15 chains analyzed. 

"It’s all about speed and accuracy, but we know our customers appreciate that we can be nice while being fast and accurate," Mark Moraitakis, senior director of hospitality and service design, told QSR."Eye contact and smiling go a long way in the drive-thru experience."

Chick-fil-A has taken pains to make its drive-thru strategy as customer-friendly as possible, reports QSR. The chain has dedicated drive-thru teams, made up of compatible Chick-fil-A employees, and sends employees with tablets out to the drive-thru lane to take orders when lines begin to form. 

While small pleasantries are easy to dismiss in the multi-billion dollar restaurant business, these little things have played a key role in setting Chick-fil-A apart from the competition.

In 2015, Chick-fil-A generated more revenue per restaurant than any other fast-food chain in the US. The chain's average sales per restaurant reached nearly $4 million.

Meanwhile, the average KFC sold $1 million in 2015.

Analysts have said that customer service is key to Chick-fil-A's success. Superior customer service drives higher sales per unit, contributing to the chain's ability to generate greater revenue than chains such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Domino's with more than twice as many US locations.

According to Chick-fil-A, the chain has the upper hand when it comes to customer service because it invests more than other companies in training its employees. The chicken chain's unique business structure, in which each franchisee is only allowed to open one Chick-fil-A location, further allows for more hands-on supervision and training. 

SEE ALSO: These 10 companies control everything you buy

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KFC is taking direct aim at McDonald's and Burger King with its latest sandwich.

The chicken chain is rolling out the Zinger Sandwich at all locations on April 24 as a limited-time offering for 14 weeks. The spicy sandwich is made with chicken breast fillet, and served with mayo and lettuce on a toasted bun. 

"The burger boys sell over 2 billion of these fried chicken sandwiches a year," Kevin Hochman, KFC's president, said of the company's competitors in an interview with Business Insider on Monday. "The one thing they all have in common is they're all made in a central factory, they're frozen, and then they're refried at stores."

KFC, on the other hand, fries its chicken in store — something that Hochman argues makes a better sandwich. 

"You can come to KFC and get a hand-breaded Zinger and a $5 fill up — that is just unbelievable value and a vastly superior sandwich," Hochman said. "Compared to a factory breaded sandwich, it will always be crunchier, more flavorful, more juicy." 

The Zinger presents a huge opportunity for KFC. Fried chicken is hot in fast food right now, with chains from Burger King to Taco Bell eager to get a piece of the action. And, the fried-chicken sandwich is the dominant menu item, making up 40% of fast-food fried chicken sales. Chicken on the bone, KFC's specialty, accounts for just 18%. 

According to Hochman, KFC spent $80 million improving speed of service and revamping its back of house organization to effectively sell the spicy chicken sandwich. 

KFC will reveal a new colonel to represent the Zinger on Friday, and Hochman says that the chain is planning a marketing stunt to promote the sandwich "unlike anything anyone has ever seen in the industry." 

However, the ultimate test for KFC will be if the sandwich can beat options like McDonald's Hot 'n Spicy McChicken and Wendy's Spicy Chicken sandwich when it comes to taste.

A Business Insider taste test revealed that the Zinger can definitely compete with fast-food rivals.

The chicken is juicier than what we've tried from the "burger boys," and the chicken's crunchy texture contrasts nicely with the sandwich's soft bun. The spice levels are well-calibrated — flavorful and slowly building, instead of scorching. The one knock on the sandwich is that the flavors could stand to have a bit more of a zing. Adding the acidity of a pickle, for example, would completely elevate the sandwich. 

If customers develop a taste for the Zinger, it could present an enormous opportunity for KFC to revamp itself as a major player in the fried chicken sandwich game. Hochman says he'd "obviously" love if the sandwich stayed on the menu, and that KFC has other chicken, like Nashville Hot and Georgia Gold, that would make amazing sandwiches as well. 

"We're going all out to establish ourselves as a sandwich player," Hochman said. "It's easier said than done. We're late to the party — that's why we're throwing in the kitchen sink."

SEE ALSO: Forget burgers and fries — fried chicken is taking over the fast-food industry

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NOW WATCH: The owner of New York’s oldest deli explains how Katz’s is able to sell 15,000 pounds of pastrami a week

KFC is going to war with the Big Three — McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.

The chicken chain announced on Monday that it is ready to unveil a "superior" fried chicken sandwich. 

"The burger boys sell over 2 billion of these fried chicken sandwiches a year," says Kevin Hochman, president of KFC, referring to his fast-food competition. Hochman believes that if customers knew how much better the fast-food chicken sandwich experience could be, they would ditch McDonald's and become Zinger loyalists. 

Them's fightin' words. So, we decided to see for ourselves how the Zinger measures up against the competition. 

Heat that packs a punch

The chicken is the star of the show here, no doubt about it. KFC knows it can take on the chicken of McDonald's and the like, as that chicken is prepared elsewhere, frozen, and refried. But the Colonel makes it in-house, resulting in a juicier and crunchier fillet. 

The classic KFC breading is present, with all the myriad spices and herbs. It's hard to beat. The crispness is incredibly satisfying, but the chicken itself is hefty enough to hold its own against the breading. McDonald's chicken sandwich ends up being a breading sandwich with a hint of chicken, a feint the Zinger deftly avoids. 

The heat levels are perfectly calibrated. The flavor of the spice is indiscernible, and the ingredients remain a mystery for now. A slight tanginess undercuts the slow burn that lingers like the fiery passions of a long-lost love — but chicken. 

Bring the zing

The topic of tanginess, however, is a testy one. Multiple taste testers craved a more distinctly acidic flavor to cut through the heat and savoriness of the fillet. A pickle, perhaps?

Some remarked on the sandwich's lack of... pizzazz. In recent years, KFC has shown a knack for sussing out regional flavors and traditions and bringing them to accessible and delicious items, such as the Nashville Hot and the Georgia Gold. The Zinger's quality is unassailable, but with a simple sesame bun, a spicy fillet, and mayo and lettuce rounding it out, the sandwich needs character.

You call yourself the Zinger? Bring the zing.

Ultimately, the Zinger achieves its militant mission: beating the "burger boys" by providing a higher quality fried chicken sandwich. We can only hope that this somewhat safe sandwich paves the way for KFC's triumphant entry into the sandwich sector. And if all goes well, we'll have more exciting sandwiches marching across the horizon soon.

SEE ALSO: KFC is spending $80 million in an effort to kill a key part of McDonald's and Burger King's business

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NOW WATCH: REPORT: Some chicken sandwiches from popular fast food chains may not be what you think they are

KFC has a new Colonel Sanders — again. 

To accompany the launch of the spicy Zinger sandwich, KFC has hired a new Colonel Sanders: actor Rob Lowe. 

Lowe, known for his roles in teen '80s films like "St. Elmo's Fire" and TV shows like "Parks and Recreation" and "The West Wing," will play a John F. Kennedy-esque colonel, announcing plans to launch the Zinger into space. 

And yes, KFC does plan to launch the Zinger into space, in what KFC president Kevin Hochman told Business Insider is the "biggest stunt [he's] ever been apart of in 20-plus years." 

According to KFC, the chain plans to launch the chicken into space some time this summer. 

"There is one question that we will be able to answer with certainty very soon: Can you actually launch KFC's world-famous Zinger chicken sandwich into space?" Lowe says in the ad, in the role of the Colonel. "The answer is: We certainly hope so. Our entire marketing campaign depends on it." 

As the new Colonel Sanders, Zane follows in the footsteps of a number of other comedians who have taken on the role since Darrell Hammond brought the founder back from the dead in May 2015. Other Colonel Sanders include Norm Macdonald, Jim Gaffigan, and, most recently, actor and producer Billy Zane.

Hochman says that KFC wanted to bring out the big guns for the the introduction of the Zinger sandwich.

"We're going all out to establish ourselves as a sandwich player," he said. "It's easier said than done. We're late to the party — that's why we're throwing in the kitchen sink."

Here's KFC's new commercial, starring Rob Lowe as Colonel Sanders: 

SEE ALSO: We tried KFC 'superior' chicken sandwich to challenge McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King — here's the verdict

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KFC just published its first romance novella — starring none other than Colonel Sanders.

To celebrate Mother's Day — the chicken chain's best-selling day of the year — KFC published "Tender Wings of Desire," a novella following the love affair between Lady Madeline Parker and Colonel Harland Sanders. The book can be downloaded for free on Amazon, and KFC is giving away 100 hardback copies to fans on Facebook. 

"The only thing better than being swept away by the deliciousness of our Extra Crispy Chicken is being swept away by Harland Sanders himself," George Felix, KFC US's director of advertising, said in a statement. "So this Mother’s Day, the bucket of chicken I get for my wife will come with a side of steamy romance novella. Dinner is taken care of and she’ll have the time to escape her busy schedule."

Of course, no one reads romance novels for the plot. Instead, it's all about skipping to the "good parts," if you know what we're saying. 

KFC stops short of any X-rated material, but here are the sections of the novella worth returning to. 

We meet the Colonel

The Colonel makes his first appearance almost halfway through the novella. At this point, Lady Madeline Parker has run away from her family, refusing to marry a rich duke, and begun working at a tavern frequented by sailors. One familiar-sounding sailor catches her eye: 

"He was tall, dressed like a sailor with a striped linen shirt and woolen peacoat crusted with sea salt. His hair was light and fair, framing his head in airy curls, and the eyes that stared back at her were almost the exact color of the sea, perhaps darker, but not by much, and they hid behind glasses with dark frames.

Madeline had never seen a sailor wear glasses before; somehow it made him seem all the more handsome. He leaned on the bar, his eyes looking into hers and liking what they saw... For a moment she felt hot and cold at the same time." 

The first kiss

Madeline and Harland Sanders are immediately taken with each other. Despite Madeline's friend's warnings of the dangers of unreliable men, the two go for a walk. One thing leads to another, and: 

"It was electric. It was everything, and whatever sickness Madeline believed she had from her infatuation with him melted away at the touch of his lips. Her entire body felt as thought it were on fire, her heart beating wildly in her chest. He felt so warm, and his arms circled around her wait to pull her closer. 

This was the closest she had ever been to a man, and she would not want it any other way. She felt as if she were a woman on fire, feverish in the best way possible, and something seemed to take her over when he deepened the kiss." 

Love-making enters the equation 

Immediately after the kiss: 

"She was breathless as they parted, and as she looked up at him, she saw an entirely new and strange aspect of her future unfold. Unfettered by the life that was expected of her, she was technically unfettered from he expectations of her place in society. No longer did she have to maintain her modesty; on the contrary, she was free to be with whomever she desired, regardless of whether they were going to end up being her husband. 

...Now, as she stood panting and looking upon this man, she realized that if she were so inclined, she could make him her love." 

The affair escalates 

The first night together goes well, with Madeline coming to terms with the fact that she was "a woman who had embraced an attraction to a beautiful man." And, that's far from the end of Harland...

"To call their affair passionate was an understatement.

Sometimes it seemed as though the two of them had been made to love each other, and they tried to do so at every given opportunity. Their eyes would meet the instant he walked into the tavern, as if they could feel each other. In that instant, a spark would light and quickly grow into a raging inferno deep within them.

They were so consumed that it took every ounce of their restraint not to give into the first right then and there. The flames would continue to rage throughout the night until the fire was too much, and at last they could let it engulf them." 

The reveal

Finally, Madeline realizes Harland isn't quite who she thought he was. He's no sailor... he's Colonel Sanders. 

"'Yes, I'm a Colonel. Yes, I'm fabulously rich. I am a magnate of the restaurant industry, my dear, the king of an empire that I built with my bare hands. I took a sabbatical from my duties in order to see the world, see what else could possibly be out there, and on the course of my journey I found what I was looking for.'

Her heart fluttered wildly in the space of his pauses. In spite of everything, she found herself hanging on his every word. 

'I found you, Madeline.'"

SEE ALSO: We tried KFC 'superior' chicken sandwich to challenge McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King — here's the verdict

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Colonel Sanders' nephew casually revealed to a reporter a recipe that had been passed down in a family scrapbook.

Could this be KFC's closely guarded secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices? The nephew, Joe Ledington, said it is. He claims his job as a kid was to mix this same recipe in large batches.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

• Chicken parts of your choice
• Celery salt
• Dried Mustard
• White pepper
• Garlic salt
• Paprika
• Ground ginger
• Basil
• Salt
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Black pepper

Here are the instructions:

Prepare oil in a cast-iron pot to fry. In a bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, 1/3 tbsp of salt, 1 tbsp of black pepper, 1/2 tbsp of thyme, 1/2 tbsp of basil, 1/3 tbsp of oregano, 1 tbsp celery salt, 1 tbsp of dried mustard, 4 tbsp of paprika, 1 tbsp of garlic salt, 1 tbsp of ground ginger,  and 1 tbsp of white pepper.

In a separate bowl, add milk and an egg and beat. Mix your chicken into the bowl, and then coat the chicken in the flour & spice mix.

Finally, fry the chicken in the pot for 10 to 15 minutes. Let it cool and then serve.

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When is a pizza not a pizza? When it’s a Chizza from KFC.

Last year, KFC made news around Japan when it added a brand new type of fried chicken to its menu: a pizza-chicken hybrid called the Chizza.

With a flat, round piece of fried chicken acting as a base for well-known pizza toppings, the Chizza was simple but unique, drawing crowds of customers to the fast food chain when it was first released.

Though the limited-time item disappeared from the menu shortly after, the popularity of the Chizza left its fans hoping it would reappear again, and thankfully, their prayers have been answered, as Tuesday marks the day that the Chizza returns to KFC outlets around the country.

This time, the Chizza has a whole new look and a brand new flavour, taking its inspiration from a Korean dish called bulgogi. Made from thin, marinated slices of beef or pork, bulgogi is grilled on a stove-top griddle or barbecue, and sometimes served with a leafy vegetable like lettuce on the side.

In Korea, the dish is so popular it can be found everywhere, even in hamburgers at fast food chains.

Now, bulgogi is getting a brand new look for fast food consumption, as the star topping for the KFC Chizza, which is said to contain a beautiful balance of beef and chicken, finished off with spinach, mayonnaise, hot peppers and a generous serving of melted cheese.

On sale from Tuesday for 980 yen (US$8.84), the Chizza will only be available until stocks sell out. 

Source: PR Times

SEE ALSO: KFC is spending $80 million in an effort to kill a key part of McDonald's and Burger King's business

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NOW WATCH: Colonel Sanders' nephew revealed the family's secret recipe — here's how to make KFC's 'original' fried chicken

A company called World View is about to launch fried chicken inside a space capsule.

The publicity stunt, scheduled for June 21, is being bankrolled by KFC to promote its spicy Zinger chicken sandwich.

The chicken will launch from Tucson, Arizona, attached to the end of a high-altitude balloon. Although the fast food brand claims this will be a "space sandwich," they'll miss that mark. The edge of space is about 62 miles above the ground, whereas World View's Stratollite — a new craft designed to fly small payloads into Earth's stratosphere — will loft the sandwich about 15 miles up.

"Stratollites can carry a wide variety of commercial payloads (sensors, telescopes, communications arrays, etc.), launch rapidly on demand, and safely return payloads back to Earth after mission completion," World View said in a press release.

Stratollites are an initial step in World View's larger goal to launch paying customers more than 19 miles above the Earth.

As a passenger inside the company's pressurized Voyager craft, which will dangle at the end of a balloon, you'd be able to see the curvature of Earth. The roughly five-hour trip would also include cocktails and stunning views of the stars, though it might set you back more than $75,000 — about the price of a new Tesla Model X 70D.

Here's a peek at what it'll be like to float at an altitude of 100,000 feet, above 99% of Earth's atmosphere.

SEE ALSO: How the used rockets of tech billionaires just might save humanity from doom

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KFC's spicy Zinger chicken sandwich capsule will be launched inside one of these: World View's lightweight Stratollite craft.

The Stratollite is designed to "sail" on high-altitude winds for up to 12 hours, though KFC's flight will last four days.

 
Source: The Verge

But World View has bigger plans than launching food. They hope to fly paying customer inside the Voyager: a Winnebago-sized capsule that's big enough for six passengers and two crew members.

Source: Popular Science. 

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones."

Many "Game of Thrones" characters have been killed off in tragic ways, but none was more heart-wrenching than the death of Hodor on season six. But now fans can see the actor behind Hodor, Kristian Nairn, in a new KFC commercial for a chicken and rice box.

The commercial lampoons the tragic way Hodor died on the HBO series. In an upsetting act of self-sacrifice, Hodor held a door closed against an army of wights so Bran Stark and Meera Reed could escape. 

The ad — titled "Lunchtime is coming..." on YouTube— starts with Nairn behind the register at a KFC, nervously looking at the clock as the time strikes noon. Then a horde of angry people come through the door, mimicking the army of wights and White Walkers that were chasing Hodor on the show.

Each person orders "chicken with fries" over and over, until Nairn becomes overwhelmed and turns around — just as Hodor did when he held the door with his back to the wights.

Nairn repeats "chicken with fries" (a.k.a. "hold the door") until the syllables run together and turn into "chicken with rice." At this point, a gentleman comes forward to pick up his order of chicken with rice — the new lunch box option at KFC. 

While the lighthearted take on Hodor's upsetting death uses clever wordplay on the "hold the door"/"Hodor" lines, we think there's another "Game of Thrones" character more suited to star in a KFC commercial.

Sandor "The Hound" Clegane is notorious in the series for his love of chicken. One of our favorite lines in the show comes when The Hound is at an inn and in great need of ale and chicken.

"If any more words come pouring out your c---t mouth, I’m going to have to eat every f------ chicken in this room." — The Hound (Season 4, Episode 1: "Two Swords")

The Hound's love of chicken was even immortalized in an amazing GIF, and turned into cosplay:

Perhaps we'll see Rory McCann star in a KFC ad of his own one day, though it'd likely be more vulgar than Nairn's version.

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Yum China, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands in China, released its second quarter earnings after Wednesday's closing bell.

The company earned $0.27 per share and brought in $1.59 billion in revenue, mostly in line with estimates.

Wall Street was expecting earnings of $0.27 on revenue of $1.60 billion.

The company reported comparable sales came of 3%, topping the 2.4% Wall Street was expecting.

The company opened 90 new stores in the second quarter.

Yum Brands spun off its China holdings into Yum China in 2015, to allow investors to invest separately in the region. The Chinese company is focused on expanding the three food brands in China.

Yum China is up 52.48% this year ahead of its second quarter results. The stock exploded more than 10% after beating first quarter expectations. In a press release accompanying its first quarter earnings, CEO Micky Pant said the company was hoping to add 600 new restaurants this year.

Pant said he was "pleased" with second quarter earnings.

Yum China was down 8.07% after it released its second quarter earnings.

Click here to watch Yum China shares move in real time...

SEE ALSO: Yum China soars after topping expectations for earnings and sales

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Retailers and restaurant chains are closing thousands of locations this year, but it's still nearly impossible to travel more than 10 miles without running into a Subway or McDonald's. 

That's because there are nearly 30,000 Subway restaurants in the US — more than any other retail chain in America — and 14,155 McDonald's restaurants in the country. 

Yum! Brands — the owner of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut — also has a strong showing with more than 17,500 restaurants in the US.

The growth of these chains and others is part of what has helped the US become the most over-retailed country in the world.

The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person, compared with 16.4 square feet in Canada and 11.1 square feet in Australia, the next two countries with the most retail space per capita, according to Morningstar Credit Ratings.

Here's a list of the most ubiquitous chains in America, starting with Subway, according to the National Retail Federation and Statista. 

SEE ALSO: Walmart is building giant towers to solve the most annoying thing about online ordering

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Did you know that Wendy's is the creator of the drive-thru window? Today's biggest fast food restaurants used to look quite different than they do today. While many things have persisted, menus, prices, and aesthetics have changed too. 

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The INSIDER Summary:

• Kristian Nairn is known for playing Hodor on HBO's "Game of Thrones."
• He told INSIDER he always wanted Hodor to have a love interest, but never got it.
• He had a shot at getting his wish, thanks to a new commercial he is in.
• It's for SodaStream and features "The Big Bang Theory's" Mayim Bialik. 

There's one thing Kristian Nairn always wanted for his "Game of Thrones" character, Hodor, that he never got — a girlfriend. 

"I always wanted Hodor, in the show, to have a love interest," Nairn told INSIDER of his time on HBO's "Game of Thrones."

Hodor was Bran's helpful companion who carried him around and ultimately sacrificed himself in what was arguably the most tragic death in "Game of Thrones" history. Once a healthy and normal stable boy named Wylis, he became Hodor after experiencing his future death at the hands of wights through one of Bran's visions. The gentle soul would never live a normal life.

Now, the 41-year-old actor who plays him said that he's gotten a little redemption for Hodor not being able to have a girlfriend.

In a new advertisement for SodaStream, Nairn plays a leader of the "Homeschlepians," a group of people who only carry beverages in plastic bottles. The role is slightly Hodor-esque, but instead of carrying Bran, he's carrying water bottles. "The Big Bang Theory" star Mayim Bialik plays a scientist who discovers this group and falls for Nairn's character.

"That was one thing I never got to realize," Nairn said of Hodor having a girlfriend. "And I think Mayim's character [on 'The Big Bang Theory'], Amy Farrah Fowler, would be perfect for Hodor."

So even though Hodor never got his love on the show, the two characters got to meet in a new way.

This new commercial follows on the heels of another humorous KFC commercial in which he revamps his Hodor character for the launch of a new dish offered in the United Kingdom.

Nairn stands behind the KFC register waiting for the noon lunch rush and people start swarming him just like the army of wights did back on season six. People begin to shout orders for "chicken with fries," and Nairn becomes overwhelmed, turns his back to them, and begins to repeat "chicken with fries"à la "hold the door" until it slurs together into "chicken with rice."

He said it was interesting to bring Hodor to life in a lighthearted setting.

"It was strange to put on a KFC uniform in a fast food joint in Hodor mode, but it was definitely fun to see how Hodor would react in that situation," he said. "I think that's pretty much exactly how he would react."

The actor has a few other projects coming out this year, including an ongoing tour as a deejay. He'll take his event, Rave of Thrones, to San Diego for Saturday's Heroes Brew Festival just in time for Comic-Con weekend.

"I'm so happy with my life at the moment," Nairn told us. "I travel, maybe a little too much, but comfortably. I’m just happy to keep going."

SEE ALSO: On the day of the 'Game of Thrones' season 7 premiere, HBO's mobile apps got record downloads

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In an alarming new blow to hygiene standards at UK food and drink chains, the BBC Watchdog programme has found traces of coliform poo in iced drinks at McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC.

In an episode that aired Wednesday July 19 on BBC One, Watchdog tested 10 samples for traces of “fecal coliform” at branches of each of the fast food chains.

Coliforms were found in seven samples at KFC, six at Burger King, and three at McDonald’s.

The latest news comes after the BBC's investigation only last month found iced drinks from popular high-street coffee chains Starbucks, Costa, and Caffe Nero were all contaminated with varying levels of bacterial feces.

Four of the samples taken at Burger King and five at KFC were described as having "significant" levels of the bacteria, according to Metro. Strict hygiene rules state that the acceptable level of this type of bacteria in water for human consumption is zero.

All of the restaurants have responded to the claims. KFC, the worst offender, immediately shut down the ice machines in question in order to conduct its own investigation. It said it had "reinforced the importance of adhering to our strict procedures to all employees."

"We are awaiting the results of independent testing of the ice that will confirm they are back up to the standards we expect," it added.

"To reassure customers we have also inspected and cleaned the ice machines in all other restaurants across the UK."

Burger King said it was committed to emphasizing standards and training procedures for employees, while McDonald's responded saying it would be "happy to work with relevant industry bodies on ensuring a standard for ice contamination." Currently no such standard exists in the UK.

SEE ALSO: Reports of fecal bacteria in iced coffee at chains like Starbucks are a red flag for bigger problems, a scientist explains

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