The change isn’t just image making; the fast-food chain is also peddling leaner fare. Says senior VP of marketing Bill McDonald, “It is equally important to us to be cool and contemporary as to be nutritionally relevant.” The biggest new entry is Lite’n Crispy chicken, which is fried without the skin. It has about 40 percent less fat and calories than the company’s heaviest fare (with enough breading to hide the skinlessness). KFC is also test-marketing broiled goods. The new menu might have shocked Col. Harland Sanders, still the company symbol more than a decade after his death. But it could be the recipe KFC needs to keep thriving in the health-conscious ’90s.
