KFC blasted for “welfare washing” as series of Frankenchicken protests begin

In 2019, KFC made a commitment to improve the welfare of the chickens it sells by signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).

After years of benefitting from positive press for this commitment, it’s turned its back on the chickens it profits from, and is continuing to sell fast-growing ‘Frankenchickens’.

Frankenchickens endure unimaginable suffering. These birds have been genetically selected to grow too big, too fast, often causing their bodies to collapse under their own weight. They are forced to sit in their own waste which burns their skin.

No living creature deserves to endure this, especially when we know there are alternatives.

So yesterday, we took to the streets in a protest outside KFC's flagship store in Leicester Square. One protester donned a chicken suit, another dressed up to parody KFC executives, and others held banners and placards calling for an end to Frankenchickens.

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KFC has benefited from half a decade of welfare washing. They agreed to give chickens better lives, and now they’re backpedalling. Now we need action, and a concrete roadmap for change. The Frankenchickens you still find chopped up in KFC buckets are birds who grow unnaturally large. They live in their waste, which can burn their skin; they often struggle with lameness and so can hardly walk. Breeding them to suffer in this way is the definition of animal cruelty. KFC must act to implement the BCC - millions of chickens deserve so much better.

~ Sean Gifford, Managing Director THL UK

KFC received praise and publicity for signing up to the BCC in 2019, earning them hundreds of articles and reaching millions of people. But now they're backpeddling from the policy.

This is not the future we were promised—it’s a step backward, and we won’t stand for it. So this protest won't be the last.

If you'd like to join us as we fight for animals raised for food, join us.