Colonel Sanders has certainly come a long way. To think, what was once a roadside Kentucky restaurant is now one of the most popular chains in China. Whenever I amble into KFC here (which, it’s worth mentioning before I proceed with my mockery, I do much, much more often here than in the US), I’m always struck by the discongruity. Beijing’s a long way from Corbin, Kentucky in more senses than just the geographic.
The distance has allowed KFC a certain latitude in refashioning itself for the Chinese market. This process does have its upsides. For instance, KFCs here are about 1000% cleaner than their U.S. counterparts. The service is correspondingly better too. As for the menu, it’s mostly what you would expect to see if you walked into a KFC in the U.S. (that I know of. Like I said, I don’t go to visit the Colonel very often back home), except that the food generally comes out hot enough that it’s still palatable.
Some of the changes made to get the Colonel all localized and prepared to meet his Chinese customers, however, do have a tendency to bring a faintly amused smile to western lips. For instance, the music that plays in all the KFCs here: most of the time it’s a mix of the easy-listening American classics that are so popular here (“A Whole New World”‘s a perennial favorite) and saccharine Chinese pop. At my local neighborhood KFC, though, it’s been the Chinese version of “Happy Birthday” for the past week. On a loop, over and over, repeating every 5 minutes. My admiration for the employees knows no bounds (and I know of what I speak. I once taught at a swim school that put the Beach Boys on a one-hour loop for a week. I think by the end of the week I was singing “Little Deuce Coupe” in my sleep).
As far as local twists go though, my favorite has to be Mexican Chicken Wrap.
This appears to be the Chinese version of the Crispy Twister, as sold in US KFCs. What makes me giggle here is not so much the product as the name. This “Mexican” Chicken Wrap’s about as Mexican as Rodney Dangerfield. Of course, here, it works. I’ll just toss out a rough estimate and guess that about 99.9999999% of Chinese people couldn’t tell Mexican food from Malian, and wouldn’t know an enchilada if it smacked them between the eyes. So if KFC wants to blow off some of Taco Bell‘s excess supply stock by smacking a piece of friend chicken in a tortilla with tomatoes and a little lettuce and call it “Mexican”, well then, by George, it’s Mexican.
The really interesting thing (and I guarantee that this is bound to happen at some point) will be when people decide to start marketing Mexican food to the masses here and they have to contend with the image of “Mexican” food created by KFC. As far as consumers of Mexican Chicken Wraps here are concerned, what they’re eating is (shudder) real Mexican food, meaning potential purveyors of the genuine article will probably be facing an uphill climb in winning the hearts and stomachs of the Chinese. Of course, as my devotion both to quality (read: dirty) Mexican joints in the US and to Taco Bell can attest, the imitation and the genuine article aren’t necessarily mutual incompatible, so perhaps there’s hope after all.
August 9, 2007 at 9:43 am |
That, my portly chum, is not the Mexican Chicken Wrap at all, but is in fact the Peking Duck themed wrap, the name of which escapes me.
August 9, 2007 at 9:49 am |
Yup, you got me. It’s the Lao Beijing Wrap. I just wanted to give a general idea of what I was talking about (i.e. I was too lazy to come up with the right picture), and I was hoping no one would call me out on it. I hereby admit my malfeasance and submit to whatever punishment the Lords of Sinocidal feel fit to administer.
August 9, 2007 at 9:56 am |
Fixed.
August 9, 2007 at 12:00 pm |
And I should think so too. No punishment this time, but if it happens again you will be forced to eat the authentic Mexican version of the Beijing Baozi – the Cardboarilla.