Not-Fried Fried Chicken and Country Music

Elle Campbell

Word Count: 1158

Americans love fried food.

As this video argues, our bodies are genetically engineered to live french fries and corn dogs and fried chicken.
That’s why they’re so popular and why Americans are, generally, fat.

In Chapter 4 of Food: The Key Concepts by Warren Belasco, he outlines the successful strategies that keep
many fast food chains afloat in the United States. Recognizing these strategies is important so we can critically
evaluate the companies that cook a majority of the food produced in the United States. The pneumatic devices
he uses to illustrate this are the “8 F’s of Fast Food”: Family, Fast, Fried, Filling, “Fresh”, Fantasy, Fordism, & Franchising.  

Family pertains to how family-centered the cuisine is.
A 30 year old parent may eat a hamburger with ten toppings on it, but their 5 year old child likely won’t do the same.
To fulfill this strategy, a fast food chain needs to appeal to the entire family so it can be a “one stop shop” for all their fried needs.
You can clearly see this in the McDonald’s example, with a menu completely centered at children (the Happy Meal).

Fast is pretty self-explanatory. Americans want their food in front of them as quick as possible. It’s just the nature of
our fast-paced society now. Drive-Thrus are a prime example of this, where you can get a burger in 3 minutes flat.

Americans love fried food, so we certainly expect it from our frequented fast food chains. We can clearly see this on
so many fast food menus and in their kitchen layouts. Belasco argues that this phenomenon occurs because fried food
is so time-intensive at home, but I’d argue that friend food is such a staple in American culture that chains would just
lose money without some form of it on their menus.

To tie in with the Fried requirement, Americans also want to get a “bang for their buck”, so their food has to be filling,
at least for a short time. This is how we get items like the Big Mac - sandwiches that literally tower over their competition.
Beyond that, the food also must be “Fresh”, or at least perceived so. A burger at McDonald’s must look similar to the
photo on the menu - fluffy bun, bright red tomatoes, a non-pink burger. The atmosphere must look somewhat sanitary,
and the temperature of the food has to be consistent.

Now we get to the abstract stuff: Fantasy. Our food must seem nice, adventurous. It must feel like a break from the

everyday routine and be something once couldn't just make at home. We see this in the exotic branding for chains like

Taco Bell, albeit minimally. Taco Bell mainly achieves this with products’ vaguely Spanish-sounding names.

Finally, on the capitalistic side, Belasco puts forth Fordism and Franchising. Both are just pertaining to how the chain
does business and holds itself to a high standard of efficiency.

These 8 F’s certainly make sense to the average American consumer. But to effectively criticize American’s taste,
I’d like to examine a failed fast food attempt: Kenny Rogers Roasters (KRR).

Kenny Rogers Roasters was founded in 1991, founded by Kenny himself and former KFC CEO John Y. Brown Jr.
At the time, Kenny was coming off a decade long streak of award winning albums and millions of sales, so he chose
to branch out. At one point, Kenny Rogers Roasters was so ingrained in American culture that Seinfeld picked it up for a couple clips.

The branding for KRR was focused around roasted, not fried, chicken being healthier than other restaurants.
This is made clear with the slogan “Deliciously Healthy.” Portions were large, Fresh, and Filling, the menu was Family-friendly,
and the assembly was Fordistic and a Franchising opportunity.

However, all those wonderful things aside, KRR went bankrupt in 1998. The last location in America closed in 2011.
Multiple locations still exist in Malaysia, Philippines, China, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Dubai, and Phuket.
The brand still sells fairly Americanized dishes featuring their roast chicken, but it’s certainly not the standard American
fast food menu. Yes, there are biscuits and mac & cheese and chicken, but there’s also salad and carrot sticks and fruit.
They have dishes that are more than reconfigurations of carbs, fat, and meat. From a family standpoint, this kind of nutrition
is much more preferable to a Happy Meal. Moms love carrot sticks.

So why did this not-fried-chicken fried chicken restaurant die in America? Why did it flourish in Asia?

A couple answers here. This restaurant was inherently tied to Kenny Rogers and didn’t quite fit into the 8 F’s as well as other options.

The correlation between Kenny Rogers Roasters and Kenny was likely a bad idea from the start.
A specific celebrity being the figurehead for a company can be problematic, especially if that celeb becomes irrelevant.
This is certainly the case for Kenny Rogers. In the 1980’s, Kenny Rogers albums consistently made US Gold and Platinum certifications.
However, in the 1990’s, only one of his six records got a certification at all. This is evident of a waning interest in not only Kenny’s music,
but his brand as a whole. And since KRR’s branding was so dependent on Kenny’s success, the roastery was doomed from its founding in 1990.  
The chain also likely suffered from its aging fanbase and their waning interest in fast food. Virtually the only outside media that picked up on the
roastery was Seinfeld, and only for one episode. For a brand to get consistent name recognition, pickups from other shows and media is essential,
and Kenny Rogers Roasters just didn’t get that.

That said, this is likely part of why KRR is so successful in Asia. On the whole, Asian folks are very interested in Americanized culture.
You can see this nearly everywhere, from Japan’s obsession with KFC to China’s marketing of Pabst Blue Ribbon. American culture is perceived
as abundant and almost glamourous. Long-forgotten celebrities often find a place in Asian culture, and Kenny Rogers is no exception.

Beyond that, America already has a plethora of chicken restaurants. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chick fil-A, and Popeye’s are household names with advertising plastered everywhere. This is likely because these restaurants uniformly fit into the 8 F’s, whereas KRR’s doesn’t. Kenny Rogers Roasters prides itself on not being Fried, which certainly ties into the lessened Fantasy aspect. This may seem small, but for the American population, that’s huge. We’re very specific about our preferences, no matter how fattening and grease-laden they are. Americans will eat what they want to and these 8 F’s will continue to reign true until some serious activism trumps it.