It’s a tough time to be a fast food giant in the West. As concerns about health have risen, sales of McDonald’s and Subway have dropped.
And it’s a tough time to be a spokesperson for those chains in Asia, where they are expanding and foreign journalists are ever present with questions about expanding waistlines.
In Yangon, where KFC opened its first branch today, one employee hit back with the response that fast food is no longer the right term for their brand of crispy fried chicken. Rather, he said, it’s “good food, served fast”.
In an interview with BBC correspondent Jonah Fisher, J.R Ching from KFC Myanmar was asked whether a fast food chain was “really necessary – are people here just going to get fat?”
Ching stopped short of saying the chain was healthy, exactly.
“I think one thing in terms of the term ‘fast food’ is we believe our food is actually good food served fast,” he said, before promoting the benefits of a balanced diet.
It’s the same PR strategy pushed by McDonald’s, which last year dubbed its somewhat more gourmet-sounding menu — with egg-white McMuffins — a “transforming dining experience of ‘fast food’ to ‘good food served fast’”.
Coconuts Yangon will fully explore KFC Myanmar’s menu later today. We note it’s not all traditional fast food.
There are definitely Portuguese egg tarts.
Photos: KFC interior via KFC Myanmar / Facebook; KFC exterior by Coconuts Media
