KFC sues over ‘chickens with eight legs’ jibes on Chinese social media

FAST-food giant has had a gutful of jibes about its menu on social media and has taken a drastic action.

FILE - In this July 31, 2014 photo, a woman looks at a menu with words "everyday half-price" in front of a KFC fast food restaurant in Beijing, China. Restaurant operator KFC said Monday, June 1, 2015, it filed a lawsuit against three companies in China whose social media accounts spread false claims about its food, including that its chickens have eight legs. The case filed by China's biggest restaurant operator comes as the government intensifies a campaign to clean up rumors on social media. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

RESTAURANT operator KFC is suing three companies in China whose social media accounts spread false claims about its food, including that its chickens have eight legs.

The case filed by China’s biggest restaurant operator comes as the government intensifies a campaign to clean up rumours on social media. Internet marketers have been convicted of trying to manipulate online sentiment on behalf of clients by posting false information about competitors or deleting critical posts.

In an announcement posted on its Chinese website, KFC said one of the best-known fake rumours was that chickens used by the company are genetically modified and have six wings and eight legs.

KFC is demanding 1.5 million yuan ($318,00) and an apology from each of three companies that operated accounts on the popular mobile phone app WeChat. It is also seeking an immediate stop to their infringements. Shanghai Xuhui District People’s Court has accepted the case, according to a press officer who would only give her surname, Wu.

KFC’s China CEO Qu Cuirong said in a statement that it was hard for companies to protect their brands against rumours because of the difficulties in collecting evidence. “But the stepped-up efforts by the government in recent years to purify the online environment, as well as some judicial interpretations, have offered us confidence and weapons,” she said.

The companies being sued were named as Shanxi Weilukuang Technology Company Ltd., Taiyuan Zero Point Technology Company and Yingchenanzhi Success and Culture Communication Ltd. in Shenzhen city. Calls to numbers listed for the companies either rang unanswered or were not valid.

Authorities launched a renewed campaign two years ago to clean up what they called online rumours, negativity and unruliness. Critics say the campaign was largely aimed at suppressing criticism of the ruling Communist Party. Commentaries in state media have argued that a clean-up was needed.

KFC has more than 4,600 restaurants in China.