BEIJING (AP) — Restaurant operator KFC said Monday it filed a lawsuit against three companies in China whose social media accounts spread false claims about its food, including that its chickens have eight legs.

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.

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 is demanding 1.5 million yuan ($242,000) 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.

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 stepped-up 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.

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.

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.

KFC has more than 4,600 restaurants in China.

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KFC is suing three companies in China for allegedly spreading rumors that the fast-food chain uses mutated chickens with extra limbs.

KFC claims that the stories originated with the Chinese companies Ying Chen An Zhi Chenggong Culture Communications Ltd., Wei Lu Kuang Technology, and Ling Dian Technology, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The fried chicken chain is is seeking compensation of up to 1.5 million yuan, or $245,000, from each company.

Stories about the "mutant" chickens have been circulating for years.

One rumor that gained traction last year claimed the federal government forced KFC to shorten its name from Kentucky Fried Chicken when it stopped using "real chickens" and started using these tube-fed "genetically modified organisms."

The story, which cited a hoax University of New Hampshire study, was posted on the viral news site Daily Buzz Live, pumping new life into a rumor that had been circulating for more than a decade.

"There is absolutely no truth to this ridiculous urban legend, which has been debunked many times," KFC spokesman Rick Maynard told Business Insider last year. "KFC uses only top quality poultry from trusted companies like Tyson and Pilgrim’s Pride — the same brands customers know from their local supermarkets."

Rumors about the mutant chickens have been debunked by Snopes.com, which notes that the company's 1991 name change had to do with menu pages and a desire to eliminate the word "fried," and nothing to do with governmental regulations.

"These so-called 'chickens' are kept alive by tubes inserted into their bodies to pump blood and nutrients throughout their structure," according to false Daily Buzz Live story. "They have no beaks, no feathers and no feet. They grow with multiple legs and wings on one 'chicken.' Their bone structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is great for KFC because it saves them money for their production costs."

The University of New Hampshire has also repeatedly debunked the claim that they authored a study on KFC's mutant chickens. 

"An active Internet hoax, of the urban legend type, falsely claims that KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is using genetically engineered organisms instead of chickens," according to a statement posted on the university's website. "The hoax includes reference to an unspecified study of KFC done at the University of New Hampshire and there is no such research or study that was done here."

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Brace yourselves...and your stomachs. The number one trending topic on Facebook is a picture of a deep-fried rat someone allegedly found in their KFC meal.

After Devorise Dixon posted the photo on his Facebook page on June 11, it's since gone viral. Over 4,000 people have friended Dixon on Facebook and his "KFC rat" photos have been shared over 100,000 times.

People from all over the world are writing on his wall to say they will never eat at a KFC again.

The only problem is that it’s probably not a rat at all, but more likely a stunt for attention. It worked.

Here's the backstory.

25-year-old Dixon alleges that he ordered a three-piece chicken tender meal from a local KFC in Compton, CA on June 11. When he bit into one of the tenders, he claimed he knew something was off.

“It was very hard and rubbery which made me look at it,” he wrote with the original photo. “As I looked down at it I noticed that it was was in a shape of a rat with a tail."

He has since deleted the caption from the picture, but Snopes (a site dedicated to fact-checking viral news) archived it.

Here is the full caption in all its caps lock glory:

DON'T EAT FAST FOOD!!! I WENT TO KFC YESTERDAY AND BOUGHT A 3PIECE CHICKEN TENDER. AS I BIT INTO IT I NOTICED THAT IT WAS VERY HARD AND RUBBERY WHICH MADE ME LOOK AT IT. AS I LOOKED DOWN AT IT I NOTICED THAT IT WAS WAS IN A SHAPE OF A RAT WITH A TAIL. IT SENT DEEP CHILLS THROUGHOUT MY WHOLE BODY! I'VE BEEN FEELING WEIRD EVER SINCE. I BOUGHT THIS IN COMPTON, CA ON WILMINGTON AND 120TH. I'VE NEVER SEEN CHICKEN LIKE THIS BEFORE ITS SICK!!!

Since his original allegation, over 4,200 people around the world have friended Dixon on Facebook and flooded his wall with praise and support.

Dixon then wrote to his new followers that he went back to KFC on June 12 and complained to the store manager, who he claimed said it was a rat and apologized.

He also posted a video to his timeline.

KFC has responded on Facebook to Dixon on Tuesday to say they had made multiple attempts to contact him and that there is no evidence to support his allegation.

KFC confirmed to Business Insider that they had reached out to Dixon, and that they requested he send the chicken to an independent lab to evaluate the product, but that he has refused to talk to them directly or through an attorney.

He also refuses to turn over the “rat.”

Even without KFC’s comments though, it looks like a fake. First and foremost, there’s a crack in the breading where you can see the white meat underneath.

You can see the crack even more clearly in these pictures:

There’s also a noticeable lack of any bones that Dixon would have bitten into if he had taken a bite of the skull like he claims.

KFC also sent Business Insider a picture of what it looks like turned over where you can clearly see the white meat poking through.

The tail looks fishy, but it could most likely be another strip of chicken or a chicken skin that was accidentally fried.

Business Insider has reached out to Dixon and we will update if we hear back.

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The No. 1 trending topic on Facebook this week was a picture of a deep-fried rat someone allegedly found in his KFC meal.

The only problem is, it probably is not a rat at all, but more likely a stunt for attention. And it worked.

Here's the backstory.

Devorise Dixon, 25, says he ordered a three-piece chicken-tender meal from a KFC in Compton, California, on June 11. When he bit into one of the tenders, he said, he knew something was off.

"It was very hard and rubbery, which made me look at it," he wrote with the original photo. "As I looked down at it I noticed that it was was in a shape of a rat with a tail."

Here is the full caption in all its caps-lock glory:

DON'T EAT FAST FOOD!!! I WENT TO KFC YESTERDAY AND BOUGHT A 3PIECE CHICKEN TENDER. AS I BIT INTO IT I NOTICED THAT IT WAS VERY HARD AND RUBBERY WHICH MADE ME LOOK AT IT. AS I LOOKED DOWN AT IT I NOTICED THAT IT WAS WAS IN A SHAPE OF A RAT WITH A TAIL. IT SENT DEEP CHILLS THROUGHOUT MY WHOLE BODY! I'VE BEEN FEELING WEIRD EVER SINCE. I BOUGHT THIS IN COMPTON, CA ON WILMINGTON AND 120TH. I'VE NEVER SEEN CHICKEN LIKE THIS BEFORE ITS SICK!!!

Since Dixon's original post, more than 4,200 people friended him on Facebook.

His "KFC rat" photos were shared more than 100,000 times, and people from all over the world started writing on his wall to say they will never eat at a KFC again.

Dixon then wrote to his new audience that he went back to KFC on Friday and complained to the store manager, who Dixon claimed said it was a rat and apologized.

He also posted a video to his timeline.

KFC has responded on Facebook to Dixon on Tuesday to say it had made multiple attempts to contact him and that there was no evidence to support his allegation.

KFC confirmed to Business Insider that it had reached out to Dixon and that it requested he send the chicken to an independent lab to evaluate the product. It said he refused to talk to the restaurant chain directly or through an attorney.

He also is said to have refused to turn over the "rat."

Even without KFC's comments, though, the situation appears suspicious. First and foremost, there's a crack in the breading where you can see the white meat underneath.

The crack is even clearer in these pictures:

There is also a noticeable lack of any bones Dixon would have bitten into if he had taken a bite of the skull as he says.

KFC also sent Business Insider a picture of what it looks like turned over, where you can clearly see the white meat poking through.

The tail looks fishy, but it could be another strip of chicken or a chicken skin that was accidentally fried.

Business Insider has reached out to Dixon and will update if we hear back.

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Last week, the world collectively gagged when a man in California claimed KFC had served him a “deep fried rat.” Now, an independent lab has proven that the "rat" was just chicken.

The so-called rat was allegedly found in Devorise Dixon’s three-piece chicken-tender meal from a KFC in Compton, California.

Business Insider wrote that the situation was highly suspicious and that the product in question was most likely a chicken tender that was merely shaped like a rat.

In fact, in certain images, we could see white meat poking through. There was also a lack of any limbs, bones, or any other evidence aside from the shape that the product was indeed a “rat.”

And now the lab has confirmed that the thing Dixon found in his chicken-tender meal was, in fact, chicken.

Here’s the official statement from KFC:

Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim. The product has now been tested by a third-party independent lab, which confirmed it is definitely a piece of chicken, as we knew all along. The right thing for this customer to do is to apologize and cease making false claims about the KFC brand.

The lab work was done over the weekend after Dixon’s attorney turned over the chicken tender on Friday. KFC had repeatedly reached out and made requests of Dixon to take the “rat” to an independent party.

KFC would not comment to Business Insider on the possibility that they threatened any legal action against Dixon, or if the fast food company will pursue any defamation suits. A spokesperson for the company said they were “reviewing all options at this point.”

As for Dixon, he has not commented publicly or released a statement.

To read a full take-down of the chicken tender “rat,” click here.

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KFC's current ad campaign stars a cartoonish Colonel Sanders played by "Saturday Night Live" alumnus Darrell Hammond, but the fast-food icon was a real person who followed an unlikely path to creating a multibillion-dollar international company.

The real Col. Sanders was an entrepreneur who didn't become a professional chef until he was 40, didn't franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken until he was 62, and didn't become an icon until after he sold his company at 75.

According to a 1970 New Yorker profile by William Whitworth, as well as biographies from Bio and the University of Houston, here are the highlights of the Colonel's remarkable rise to success.

Harland Sanders was born in 1890 and grew up on a farm in Indiana. When he was 6 years old, Sanders' father died, leaving him to take care of his younger brother and sister while his mom spent long days working. One of these responsibilities was feeding his siblings, and by age 7 he was already a decent cook, according to the New Yorker.

His mom remarried when he was 12. Because his new stepfather didn't like the boys around, Sanders' brother was sent to live with an aunt while he was sent to work on a farm about 80 miles away.

Sanders soon realized he would rather work all day than go to school, so he dropped out in the seventh grade.

In addition to a stint in Cuba with the Army, Sanders spent the first half of his life working a series of odd jobs, including stoking the steam engines of trains throughout the South, selling insurance, selling tires, making lighting systems, and operating a ferry boat.

He acquired a service station in Corbin, Kentucky, in 1930 and began serving classic Southern dishes to travelers. The location became known for its food, and Sanders eventually got rid of the service station's gas pump and converted the location to a full-fledged restaurant.

His breakthrough came in 1939 when he found that frying his chicken and its signature "11 herbs and spices" in a new device, a pressure cooker (different from the ones used today), resulted in the ideal consistency he had been looking for.

Sanders' restaurant enjoyed great popularity over the next decade, and in 1950 the governor of Kentucky named him colonel, the highest title of honor the state can give. Sanders began dressing the part, adopting the white suit and Kentucky colonel tie that would help make him a pop-culture icon.

In 1952, he made a deal with his restaurateur friend, Pete Harman, to sell his chicken dish as "Kentucky Fried Chicken" in exchange for a 4-cent royalty on every piece sold. After it became a top-selling item, Sanders made the same deal with several other local restaurants.

Things were going great, but when a new interstate bypassed Sanders' restaurant, it spelled doom.

He sold the location at a loss in 1956, leaving his $105 monthly Social Security check as his only income. Sanders then decided that he was not going to settle for a quiet retirement.

Since he'd closed his restaurant, the Colonel decided to dedicate himself fully to the franchising side project he'd started four years earlier.

He hit the road with his wife, the car packed with a couple pressure cookers, flour, and spice blends. He would enter a restaurant, offer to cook his chicken, and then make a deal if the owner liked what they tasted.

By 1963, Sanders was fielding franchise requests without having to put in the legwork, and had more than 600 restaurants across the US and Canada selling Kentucky Fried Chicken. That October, he was approached by John Y. Brown, Jr., "an aggressive young lawyer" as the New Yorker puts it, and a venture capitalist named Jack C. Massey who wanted to buy the franchise rights.

Sanders was initially reluctant, but after weeks of persuasion, he agreed to sell his rights for $2 million ($15.1 million in 2015 dollars) in January 1965, and the deal went through in March.

Under the contract, the company Kentucky Fried Chicken would establish its own restaurants around the world and would not compromise the chicken recipe. Sanders was to have a lifetime salary of $40,000 (later upped to $75,000), a seat on the board, majority ownership of KFC's Canadian franchises, and would serve as the company's brand ambassador.

Sanders wasn't happy to let go of his baby, but at 75, he decided that it would be best to see his company continue to grow beyond his capacity.

The New Yorker profile noted that some of his friends believed Sanders was shorted on the deal, but it also shows that Sanders turned down stock in the company and did not negotiate for a higher price.

It seems Sanders' pursuit was never really about becoming rich, but rather about becoming renowned for his food. That's why he constantly grumbled and swore about the more profitable but lower quality gravy that the corporate KFC began producing.

"If you were a franchisee turning out perfect gravy but making very little money for the company and I was a franchisee making lots of money for the company but serving gravy that was merely excellent, the Colonel would think that you were great and I was a bum," a KFC executive told the New Yorker. "With the Colonel, it isn't money that counts, it's artistic talent."

Sanders spent the latter years of his life giving interviews on talk shows and appearing in commercials, like this one from 1969:

The University of Houston, which honors Sanders in its Hospitality Industry Hall of Fame, says that up until his death in 1980, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles each year visiting KFC locations and promoting the brand in the media.

Brown, who sold his stake in KFC in 1971 for $284 million, became governor of Kentucky in 1979. When Sanders died the next year, Brown said Sanders was "a real legend" and "the spirit of the American dream,"the New York Times reported.

Sanders may have lacked the motivation to become as wealthy as he could have been, but he's now known in 115 countries for his favorite fried chicken recipe, which is more than he ever could have hoped for when he hit the road at age 65 with a car full of cooking supplies.

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MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian unit of fast food chain KFC, owned by Yum Brands Inc, on Friday challenged the results of a test showing the presence of bacteria linked to food poisoning in a sample of its fried chicken, dismissing them as "false allegations".

Food safety has hit headlines in India after government food safety inspectors found excess lead in packets of Nestle's Maggi instant noodles.

The company disputes the test results and a subsequent recall order, but it has become India's worst safety scare involving packaged food in a decade.

On Friday, a children's rights group in the southern state of Telangana said it had submitted samples of KFC's fried chicken legs to the state food laboratory on June 18.

The laboratory report, which was seen by Reuters, detailed traces of bacteria such as E.coli, which indicates the presence of sewage or animal waste, and salmonella.

In a statement, KFC said it had not heard from any authorities and was unclear about the circumstances in which the samples were obtained.

"There is no possibility of any microbial development in our food, which is freshly cooked at 170 degrees Celsius," it added, vowing to seek a clarification from the concerned authorities.

Achyuta Rao, an official of APBHS, the group commissioning the tests, said it would submit a copy of the report to the office of the state's chief minister later on Friday.

"This is a state laboratory report," he added. "We are not against KFC or any brand. "We are a children's rights organization."

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Mumbai; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Clarence Fernandez)

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When it comes to American fast-food presence in countries with the most undemocratic governments, the Colonel beats out the Clown by a longshot.

KFC is about to open up its first location in Myanmar, which will be the 20th country ruled by an authoritarian regime where KFC has a presence.

According to a report by The Economist Intelligence Unit, there are 51 countries in the world with authoritarian governments. Major fast-food chains like KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King have not shied away from many of those nations.

The Golden Arches is in 15 oppressive countries, according to the EIU. Of those, Belarus and Cuba are the only ones that do not also have a KFC. (Cuba only has one McDonald’s, and it’s in Guantanamo Bay.) On the other hand, the countries where there is a KFC and no McDonald’s are Nigeria, Angola, Swaziland, Yemen, Syria and (soon) Myanmar.

KFC is also on top when it comes to the total number of restaurants in countries under authoritarian regimes, leading McDonald’s 5,537 to 2,984.

We contacted KFC to ask them whether the type of government is a factor when they decide to go into a new country, and will update the story if we hear back.

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The newest addition to KFC's menu in Hong Kong is a mix between a chicken wing and a pizza.

The hybrid, dubbed the “Napoli Crispy Pizza Chicken,” recently surfaced on the company's website and has since been intriguing customers worldwide. 

The main ingredients are mozzarella and cheddar, according to BuzzFeed.

The "Pizza Chicken" comes in a number of combo meals. 

Customers in Hong Kong can purchase the "Napoli Crispy Pizza Chicken Meal Set," which includes two pieces of the buzz-worthy creation, mushroom rice, egg tart, and a soft drink.

The entire meal retails for $39 HK dollars, which translates to around $5 US dollars. 

Users on Twitter have mixed reactions about the restaurant's latest creation:

This isn't the first time KFC has been in the spotlight for releasing a controversial menu item; earlier this year KFC released the Double Down Dog, a hot dog wrapped in a cheese-stuffed chicken breast.

The company often releases eccentric meals in different parts of the world.  

The chicken pizza wing is available for a limited time only, according to the company's website. KFC has not revealed if it will offer the Napoli Crispy Pizza Chicken in the United States.

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KFC's Chinese business is weighing down the entire brand — and activist investors think it's time for Yum! Brands to unload the operation. 

The fried chicken chain's sales in the US are rising.

Meanwhile, sales have been tanking for three years in China and fell 10% in the most recent quarter. 

KFC has been plagued by food safety scandals. Last year, a supplier was shut down after a news report showed factory workers using expired meat. 

As more Western brands like Starbucks and McDonald's expand in China, the brand experiences stiffer competition, according to a report by Citi Group. 

The brand has also falsely been accused of using mutant chickens. 

Activist investors have suggested that parent company Yum! Brands spin off its Chinese business so it can focus on more lucrative markets, reports Jonathan Maze at Nation's Restaurant News. 

KFC is the largest restaurant chain in China, with more than 4,500 locations. 

But KFC executives insist the brand will continue to focus on turning around China. 

"We don’t want to talk about it,” Yum CEO Greg Creed said on a conference call with investors. “The China team is focused on one thing: Their No. 1 priority and my No. 1 priority is getting China back to stronger sales growth.”

Investors weren't happy with the company's unwillingness to consider spinning off the business in China, and shares fell, according to a recent report by Morgan Stanley. 

For now, KFC is looking to cut costs in China by scheduling workers for fewer hours. The team is also working to improve the menu. 

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On Monday, we rounded up the quarterly earnings from Wall Street's biggest firms, and on Wednesday we did the same for Silicon Valley.

For our third installment this earnings earnings season we're taking a look at how some of the world's biggest restaurant chains fared.

The companies on this list are all publicly-traded global fast-food chains based in the United States and Canada. This quarter, they've reported revenues ranging from $172 million to $6.5 billion.

Some firms crushed expectations and others missed them, but each of these companies brought in millions (or even billions) of dollars of profits in this year.

Scroll through to check out how much your favorite chain restaurant (or coffee shop) made.

Yum! Brands

Announced on: July 14

Revenue: $3.11 billion

Net Income: $235 million

EPS: $0.53

Comment: The owner of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut saw sales fall for the fourth straight quarter as the company is still handling a food safety scandal in China. Last July, a news report showed suppliers for KFC and Pizza Hut in China using expired meat, which set of a frenzy in the company's biggest market. Sales in China fell 10% this quarter alone. The company is also struggling to offer healthier choices for increasingly health-conscious Americans.

Domino's

Announced on: July 16

Revenue: $488.6 million

Net Income: $45.9 million

EPS: $0.81

Comment: Domino's beat estimates for both earnings and revenue amid strong international growth. Despite currency headwinds, the company's international same store sales grew 6.7%— marking the 86th consecutive quarter of growth in that area. Plus Domino's saw domestic same store sales growth of 12.8% and added a net 186 new stores around the globe.

Chipotle

Announced on: July 21

Revenue: $1.2 billion

Net Income: $140.2 million

EPS: $4.45

Comment: Chipotle shares reached a new high on Wednesday, the day after the company reported better than expected earnings. The stock initially fell more than 6% on Tuesday night because same store sales growth of 4.3% missed the expected 5.8%. Chipotle also opened 48 new restaurants this quarter.

The strength of our business is the product of our unique food culture and unique people culture, and we constantly find ways to improve, and overcome challenges we encounter – whether that means non-GMO ingredients, adding new pork suppliers to ensure food with integrity, or reinventing the way tortillas are made at scale,"founder and CEO Steve Ells said in the earnings release.

KFC was recently named one of the top restaurant franchises in the world. 

The fried chicken chain ranked fourth among the restaurants in Entrepreneur's list of top global franchises.

But opening a KFC restaurant requires a lot of money at the start. 

The company requires operators to have at least $1.5 million in total net worth and $750,000 in liquid assets.

KFC also charges its operators a $45,000 franchise fee, according to Franchise Direct.

Building and equipment costs — which include items like grills and fryers — range between 695,000 and $1.2 million, Franchise Direct reports.

Other fees, such as training expenses and property costs, bring total startup expenses to between $1.3 million and $2.5 million.

Franchisees also have to pay fees every month for royalties and advertising. Together, the fees equal 10% of gross sales, according to the company.  

That's similar to what it costs to open a McDonald's restaurant. But McDonald's restaurants generate more than twice the amount of sales per unit compared to KFC restaurants.

McDonald's restaurants on average generate $2.5 million in sales annually, making McDonald's the second-highest-grossing chain in the US by sales per unit behind Chick-fil-A, according to QSR magazine. 

By comparison, KFC restaurants on average generate roughly $942,000 in sales annually, QSR reports.

The company doesn't reveal any details about its franchisees' average profits.

If you work at KFC and have a story to share, please email us at retail@businessinsider.com.

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KFC is rolling out a high-tech chicken bucket to celebrate its 60th anniversary in Canada, The Verge reports. The “Memories Bucket” doubles as a Bluetooth photo printer, which connects to your phone wirelessly to print pictures.

KFC’s Facebook account indicates the company will be giving “a few” of these special buckets away, so for now it doesn’t look like they will see a wide release. But from what we can see in their promotional video, if you are one of the lucky golden ticket winners, you’ll have an outstanding time.

It must be said that the “Memories Bucket” isn’t quite as innovative as Pizza Hut’s pizza box that turned into a working projector for your smartphone. While the “Blockbuster Box,” as it was called, took advantage of the concept of a “pizza table” and turned that into a lens, KFC’s bucket is essentially adding a printer to the inside of the bucket.

But with printers gradually going out of fashion in favor of a screens-only life, marketing gimmicks from fast food restaurants might be our only chance to actually print out photos.

See the video below:

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) - On birthdays and for special treats, Lu Yuanli would take her son to their local KFC for his favorite meal, fried chicken wings, but the Chinese mother hasn't been back since a safety scare battered KFC-parent Yum Brands Inc and rival McDonald's Corp last year.

Lu is one of a growing number of Chinese parents turning their backs on the U.S. firms, further undermining their efforts to revive growth in a market seen as key to offset slowing global sales but where their food has lost is novelty factor and competition from local alternatives is fierce.

"McDonald's and KFC used to be kind of special places to go; now there are lots of Western-style brands in the market and McDonald's and KFC are just part of the crowd," said Yu, who now takes her 7-year-old son to local chain Beijing Origus for a seafood-to-pizza buffet.

China is the biggest market for Yum, and home to the third largest number of restaurants for McDonald's. Sales for both, which had steadily risen over the past decade, took a hit after Chinese regulators launched a probe into a local meat supplier last July for allegedly adding expired meat to its products.

The safety scare was the second to hit the U.S. firms in China in as many years, and analysts said it became the tipping point for many families to stop eating at their restaurants.

This lack of patronage becomes particularly painful as slower economic growth becomes the norm in China, and as consultants Euromonitor forecast growth in the already crowded fast food market to slow to around 4 percent by 2019, less than a third of the pace a decade earlier.

"The people who moved away were families and kids, these guys aren't coming back," said Ben Cavender, principal at China Market Research (CMR) Group.

He said single professionals were flocking back to KFC and McDonald's at a faster pace than families, but cautioned that these consumers won't be enough to boost sales growth to pre-food scare levels.

Loss of trust

CMR survey data suggests Chinese consumers trust in, and desire for, KFC and McDonald's has been falling since hitting a peak in 2010, with the decline accelerating since the 2012 food safety scare.

Euromonitor data shows a similar trend: Yum's share of the market for fast food chains slipped to around 30 percent last year from nearly 40 percent in 2010 while McDonald's remained flat, as competition intensified from the likes of Ting Hsin International's Dicos, Ajisen China Holdings Ltd , Huai Lai Shi Catering and Kungfu Catering.

Both U.S. firms have admitted China has become a tougher market since the food scare. In July, Yum executives said the recovery of China sales was taking longer than expected, citing the slowing economy and fierce competition.

Yum declined to comment further for this story, while McDonald's China spokeswoman Jessica Lee said the firm was increasing its market share, without giving specifics.

In a bid to revive their sales momentum in China, Yum and McDonald's are focusing on faster-growing segments of the fast food market such as pizza as well as customers in China's rapidly developing smaller cities.

Yum is also expanding its premium coffee business and earlier this year set up a high-end restaurant, Atto Primo, in Shanghai to gauge customers' tastes.

Trying to reassure consumers after the food scare, KFC opened more than 1,000 of its kitchens to Chinese diners while McDonald's has published a list of its suppliers online.

Not all diners, however, are convinced.

Shanghai executive Wang Zhiyong used to bring his son every week to eat burgers and play with other kids at his local McDonald's, but concerns about the safety and healthiness of the food have kept him away for the past few years.

"Food safety is now a much bigger issue, so I take a lot more care about what we eat," he added.

(Additional reporting by SHANGHAI newsroom; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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KFC is selling bright pink burgers in China, where the chain's sales have been plummeting for the last three years. 

The sandwich is called the "rose cheese chicken leg roasted burger" and it features pink buns, roasted chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, tomato, and lettuce, Kotaku reports via The Nanfang.

In advertising, the sandwich is featured with pink rose petals. 

The Rose cheese chicken burger debuted alongside a new black burger, called the "black diamond bacon spicy chicken leg burger." 

Some customers appear to be confused by the new sandwiches. 

KFC is launching its colored burgers following Burger King's release of red and black burgers in Japan.

Burger King launched the Red Samurai Chicken burgers with bright red buns, red cheese, and red hot sauce made from miso and hot peppers in July. The chain also recently released a new all-black sandwich in Japan, following the debut of its first black burger last September.

KFC has been trying to revive its sales in China, which have been declining for the last three years and fell 10% in the most recent quarter. 

The chain has been plagued by food safety scandals and stiffer competition from Western brands like Starbucks and McDonald's, which are expanding in China.

One of the KFC's suppliers was shut down last year after a news report showed factory workers using expired meat.  

KFC is the largest restaurant chain in China, with more than 4,500 locations. 

SEE ALSO: Burger King Japan is selling burgers with red buns and cheese

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Fresh from bringing back its iconic "Colonel" brand mascot, KFC is launching new ads with another new actor playing the Colonel.

Norm Macdonald — the "Saturday Night Live" veteran and "Last Comic Standing" judge — is taking over from impressionist Darrell Hammond as Colonel Sanders in a new campaign for the fast-food brand, the company announced on Monday in a press release.

KFC US chief marketing officer Kevin Hochman says: "Other than not quite looking like him, his voice being different, and his inability to cook the world's best chicken, we thought Norm was the perfect choice to play the Real Colonel. I think the fans will agree."

It may sound odd, but KFC will probably be hoping the new ads will polarize viewers. The CEO of KFC parent company Yum Brands, Greg Creed, said one out of five people hated the Hammond ad campaign. But he added that it was great news "because at least now they have an opinion. They're actually talking about KFC, and you can market to love and hate; you cannot market to indifference."

The fall ad campaign refers to KFC's history and sees Macdonald playing the Colonel in his wood-paneled office.

The four spots also introduce a new family-size version of KFC's $5 fill-up meal: the $20 family fill-up, which contains eight pieces of chicken, two large orders of mashed potatoes and gravy, one large coleslaw, and four biscuits.

While some fast-food brands are struggling to maintain sales growth in the US, KFC is outperforming many of its competitors. KFC grew sales by 1% in the US in the quarter to June 13.

SEE ALSO: KFC is making 2 drastic changes to beat the competition

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Good morning. Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. KFC has another new Colonel. "Saturday Night Live" veteran and "Last Comic Standing Judge" Norm Macdonald has taken over from impressionist Darrell Hammond.

2. Microsoft is definitely still in the advertising business, despite selling off large chunks of its advertising division to AOL. On Monday, the company released an update to its advertising tools that let developers put video commercials in their Windows Store apps.

3. Seamless and Comedy Central have dropped internet comedian The Fat Jew. But it's not because of the plagiarism controversy surrounding him.

4. Meet the exec who just inherited Google's massive sales division. Philipp Schindler, Google's VP of global sales, will be effectively replacing chief business officer Omid Kordestani.

5. Facebook is revamping its "Notes" section. It wants it to be your next blogging platform. 

6. Japan has a plan to put ads on the moon. Sports drink Pocari Sweat will be left on a lunar plain.

7. US independent ad agency Horizon has formed a joint venture with Hyundai-backed agency group Innocean. Together they are forming a standalone media agency called Canvas Worldwide, AdAge reports.

8. Gap isn't cool anymore. But it has a master plan to change that.

9. Jack Black, Bill Hader, and Fred Armisen parody Vice Media in a new faux documentary. The episode of their six-part IFC series "Documentary Now!" sees a Brooklyn-based news outlet called "Dronez" on the hunt for a Mexican drug kingpin.

10. BuzzFeed is creating a Japanese-language site, The Financial Times reports. The new site is a joint venture with Yahoo Japan.

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KFC has executed a remarkable turnaround in its US business in the last year.

According to Citi Research analysts, the chain's momentum is getting a major boost from one popular promotion: The $5 "Fill Up" meal.

The meals include an entree, a drink, several sides, and a dessert — all for $5.

There are five different "Fill Up" combos featuring chicken tenders, chicken breasts, pot pie, and other options.

"We believe the positive sales momentum is likely to continue," Citi Research analysts wrote in a research note. "Of note, $5 Fill Ups continue to resonate very well and lower gas prices remain a tailwind."

Analysts said the recently launched $20 "Family Fill Up" should further drive sales.

KFC's same-store sales grew by by 7% and 3%, respectively, in the first two quarters of 2015. By comparison, comparable sales fell by more than 2% in the first half of last year.

The $5 meal could help KFC win back its position as the top chicken chain in the US by giving it a huge advantage over Chick-fil-A, where a similar meal would cost more than $7 in most markets.

Chick-fil-A surpassed KFC last year to become the No.1 chicken chain in the US by sales.

Here are all the $5 meal options:

• 3-piece Tenders, mashed potatoes & gravy, biscuit, medium drink, and chocolate chip cookie
• "Famous Bowl," medium drink, and chocolate chip cookie
• Breast Piece, mashed potatoes & gravy, biscuit, medium drink, and chocolate chip cookie
• pot pie, medium drink, and chocolate chip cookie
• Drumstick and thigh, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuit, medium drink, and chocolate chip cookie

SEE ALSO: Denny's just stepped into the 'McWhopper' feud between McDonald's and Burger King

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Chick-fil-A has beat KFC as the nation's biggest fast food chicken chain in the country. McDonald's has noticed. They recently released the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken sandwich. It's really good.

Produced by Joe Avella and Jenner Deal.

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An alliance of consumer, health, and environmental groups has released a new report showing how the nation's top 25 fast-food companies by sales stack up on their policies regarding antibiotic use in their meat.

The results are dismal: The report gave 20 of the 25 companies failing grades for not effectively responding to a "growing public health threat by publicly adopting policies restricting routine antibiotic use" in meat.

Of those that passed, only Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill received an A grade. Chick-fil-A received a B, and McDonald’s and Dunkin' Donuts received C's.

These chains beat out the likes of Starbucks, Olive Garden, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, who were among the many companies assigned big, fat F's in the report:

The "Chain Reaction" report and scorecard was assembled and released by the nonprofit groups Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Keep Antibiotics Working, and Center for Food Safety.

The report arrives amid growing concern about antibiotic-resistant superbugs, a problem partially fueled by the rampant use of antibiotics in cows, chickens, and other farm animals raised for food. Such concern has sparked the launch of the Obama administration's five-year plan to combat antibiotic resistance, as well as the Food and Drug Administration's new guidelines aiming to restrict antibiotic use in farm-animal products, like meat and poultry, that make it to our dinner plates.

After surveying each of the top 25 restaurant chains through in-person, email, and traditional mail surveys — as well as public statements — the groups assigned grades to each company. They plan to perform this survey annually to measure improvements.

The five chains that passed have demonstrated that they are limiting the use of medically necessary antibiotics or that they prohibit antibiotic use altogether in the meat-production process, according to the report.

The 20 that received failing grades, which represent the majority of the best-selling food chains in the US, haven't showed that they are responding to this issue, the report said.

"Consumers should be as concerned as the foremost infectious disease doctors are — which is very concerned,” David Wallinga, a senior health officer at the environmental nonprofit the National Resources Defense Council, who contributed to the report, told Time.

Antibiotic-resistant superbugs have become one of the world's most pressing public-health concerns. An estimated 2 million people become infected with drug-resistant bacteria in the US each year. Of those, at least 23,000 die.

Most farm animals on the planet get antibiotics to fatten them up and protect them from illness. About 80% of the antibiotics sold in the US every year are for farm animals. Overuse of antibiotics on farms isn't the only issue, but it's a huge contributor to the growing threat of a post-antibiotic era, when even minor infections will not be easily treatable with the drugs we have today.

Tech Insider contacted each of the brands in the report for their reactions. Keep scrolling to read the responses we've received so far, each brand's grade from the report, and which companies haven't gotten back to us.

Panera Bread — "A"

Sara Burnett, director of wellness and food policy at Panera Bread:

More than a decade ago we started serving chicken raised without antibiotics — ahead of the industry. We're glad to see that others have followed and proud to have extended our commitment to all of the chicken, ham, bacon, sausage and roasted turkey on our salads and sandwiches.

Chipotle — "A"

Chris Arnold, spokesman for Chipotle:

We have served meat from animals raised without antibiotics for many years and do more of that than any other restaurant company, so naturally we are pleased to enjoy the highest available grade in this study. While others have made some small steps in a similar direction, the study shows there is more work do be done on this issue within the restaurant industry, and we hope others will follow our lead.

Chick-fil-A — "B"

Rob Dugas, vice president, supply chain, at Chick-fil-A:

Chick-fil-A was the first in the quick service restaurant industry to announce a commitment to “No Antibiotics Ever” in its chicken supply back in 2014. This commitment is the most restrictive in the industry, with no antibiotics (including ionophores) to be administered at all within the chicken’s lifespan.

Because chicken makes up 99% of our menu, Chick-fil-A is prioritizing completely eliminating any antibiotic use in the poultry supply first. Because of this stringent requirement and our desire to have third-party verification of our supplier’s processes, the switch will take some time. 

We are happy to report that —in addition to continuing to serve chicken that has always been 100% pure breast meat with no fillers, additives, hormones or steroids  -- we have converted more than 20% of our poultry supply to our “No Antibiotics Ever” standard and are on track to be fully transitioned by 2019. We also are committed to transparency throughout the process and are posting regular updates on our web site (http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Antibiotic-free), with another update scheduled for this fall.

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