The Finger Lickin' Good Quiz!

Answer: 150

KFC has become one of the largest fast‑food chains on Earth with a presence in 150 countries. Considering there are 195 countries in the world, this puts KFC in approximately 75% of the countries in the world! The web site also claims there are 30,000+ KFC restaurants.

Answer: Harland

Harland Sanders only became a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 as an honorary title for feeding travellers at his Corbin gas‑station café. He legally changed his name to "Colonel Harland Sanders" in 1950.

Answer: Henryville, Indiana

Harland Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana while Kentucky Fried Chicken got its start in Corbin, Kentucky. Sanders had set up service stations in Nicholasville and Corbin, Kentucky and first started selling his chicken from a restaurant he set up in the Corbin station.

Answer: Pressure frying

Sanders perfected pressure frying in the 1930s, cutting cook time to eight minutes while keeping chicken juicy - a technique still core to KFC operations. Sanders was dissatisfied with the 35 minutes it took to prepare his chicken in an iron frying pan, but he did not want to deep fry. Although a much faster process, in Sanders' opinion it produced dry and crusty chicken that was unevenly cooked. On the other hand, if he prepared the chicken in advance of an order, there was sometimes waste at the end of the day.

In 1939, the first commercial pressure cookers were released onto the market, predominantly designed for steaming vegetables. Sanders bought one and modified it into a pressure fryer, which he then used to prepare chicken. The new method reduced production time to be comparable with deep frying, yet, in Sanders' opinion, retained the quality of pan-fried chicken.

Answer: 11

The secret blend is handwritten by Colonel Sanders on a torn notebook page and stored in a high‑security vault. Two separate companies mix different halves of the seasoning so no outsider knows the full formula.

In 2017 KFC's official Twitter account quietly followed ONLY 11 accounts - no celebrities, no influencers, no partners. Just: 5 Spice Girls and 6 random men named Herb. No announcement. No hint. They simply waited for the internet to discover it. On October 20, 2017, Twitter user Mike Edgette noticed the pattern and tweeted: "@KFC follows 11 people. Those 11 people? 5 Spice Girls and 6 guys named Herb. 11 Herbs & Spices. I need time to process this."

His tweet exploded - over 311,000 retweets and 692,000 likes within days. The internet went wild. Memes poured in. Marketing blogs called it "the perfect social media Easter egg". KFC didn't just acknowledge the discovery - they rewarded Edgette with a custom oil painting of Colonel Sanders giving him a piggyback ride through a forest. They also sent him 52 KFC gift cards worth $5 each (total $260) and a LinkedIn endorsement from the Colonel himself.

Answer: Japan

In Japan, Christmas isn't a traditional holiday - so in 1974, KFC filled the cultural gap with a marketing campaign called "Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakki!" ("Kentucky for Christmas"). It worked so well that today, millions of Japanese families treat KFC buckets like holiday turkey. KFC stores in Japan get so overwhelmed that customers reserve their Christmas meal up to a month ahead.

Answer: True

KFC partnered with Enviro‑log in 2018 to release "11 Herbs & Spices Fire Logs" for $18.99 USD, which smell like the "Original Recipe" when burned - they sold out within hours. By 2020 they were sold in Walmart in the USA for $15.88 USD. Holiday promotions later reduced the price to under $10 USD.

In 2020 they were sold in Canada in Canadian Tire stores across the country for $19.99 CAD. Resellers on Amazon have sold the logs for anywhere from $5 to $53 USD.

Answer: Sabunchu Station, Baku, Azerbaijan

The original site in Corbin Kentucky comes with a museum an occupies approximately 5,000 ft2. The KFC in Azerbaijan is housed in a historic rail station. This 15,000 square foot palatial KFC boasts marble pillars, soaring ceilings, and seating for more than 300 guests, the largest KFC as of July 2026.

Answer: Yes, in self defense

Before starting KFC, Sanders ran a Shell gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. A rival operator, Matt Stewart, worked for Standard Oil and the two men were in a bitter feud over customers. Stewart repeatedly tore down Sanders' signs and threatened his employees. One day, Sanders confronted him - and Stewart opened fire first, shooting and killing Sanders' employee, Robert Gibson. Sanders returned fire with a pistol, injuring but not killing Stewart. Sanders was not charged but Stewart was convicted of murder for killing Gibson.

Answer: Paperboard tubs for ice cream

In 1956-57, Pete Harman's Salt Lake City KFC franchise was booming. Customers wanted large take‑home quantities of chicken for families - but fried chicken packaging was terrible: paper bags tore, grease soaked through, boxes collapsed, chicken cooled too fast. Harman needed a container that could hold a lot of hot chicken without falling apart.

Another early KFC franchisee had purchased paperboard ice‑cream tubs from the Vernon Company of Newton, Iowa. These tubs were: rigid, grease‑resistant, stackable, cheap, designed to hold cold dairy products - but surprisingly good at holding hot food. Change the packaging from ice cream to chicken and VOILA! The bucket of chicken was born. Customers loved it. The bucket solved every problem at once. This became the first "Family Meal" in fast‑food history.

Sanders saw Harman's success and standardized the bucket nationwide. He saw the value in selling to families in a manner that worked well on the family table, not in individual servings but stacked in a bucket that could be handed out to each member of the family. A bucket implied abundance. It made chicken a centerpiece for a family meal. It removed the friction of choosing piece‑by‑piece. It created a "standard portion" that was larger than typical orders. Sanders said it plainly: "People buy more chicken when you put it in a bucket.".