KGC doesn’t have the ring to it of KFC

It’s not a good sign for an idea when the first thing it’s compared to is New Coke.

That’s exactly what’s happened with Kentucky Fried Chicken’s decision to rebrand some of its stores Kentucky Grilled Chicken last March. The idea was widely ridiculed. After all, KFC’s entire stores are about fried chicken. Colonel Sander’s recipe is held in a secret vault. Grilled chicken seems sacrilegious. But yet KFC has pushed on and is releasing grilled chicken nationally in April in an effort to appear healthy.

YUM brands, which owns KFC, is concerned because sales were down at KFC by three percent in 2008 and concluded people were worried KFC was unhealthy. But is fried chicken really what ails KFC?