2018-03-05

People have gone chicken crazy

Last week the fast food chain KFC was forced to temporarily close most of its UK outlets after problems with a new delivery contract led to a chicken shortage. Over 600 of their 900 UK outlets were shut following a weekend of disruption that peaked on Sunday night. The chicken delivery problem was so severe that the company would not say when operations would be back to normal. But it said it was working "flat out" to resolve the crisis.

Signs on many of the closed stores said: "Sorry, we're closed. We deliver our chickens fresh into our restaurants, but we've had a few hiccups with the delivery today. We wouldn't want to be open without offering our full menu, but we'll be back at the fryers as soon as we can."

KFC tried to make light of the problem, saying "the colonel is working on it" - a reference to the chain's US founder, Colonel Sanders, whose image adorns the brand.

The police urged the public to stop calling in to report that KFC had run out of chicken. Police in East London tweeted: "Please do not contact us about the KFC Crisis - it is not a police matter if your favourite eatery is not serving the menu that you desire."

Amid all the chicken madness, there was a strong chance that KFC could actually benefit from the crisis. Scarcity creates demand. It reminded people about KFC, even those who haven't eaten it for years. When they get everything back to normal again, you can expect a stampede.

a tweet from the police

Which fast food (takeaway) chain restaurants do you go to, if any?

▍生词好句

1. working "flat out": working as fast or as hard as possible, working really hard, working really quickly

2. a few hiccups /ˈhɪkʌp/: hiccup literally means the sound when you drink too much; we also use hiccup to mean a temporary/small problem that can be easily fixed.

3. make light of the problem: to act like something is not serious, especially when it is serious

4. stampede /stamˈpiːd/: when a large group of animals becomes frightened and runs in the same direction very quickly, especially horses and other large animals; if lots of people all do the same thing at the same time, we say it is a stampede.

▍Important things we have learned today

1. British people go crazy when they can't get KFC. They might even call the police.

2. According to some opinions, KFC is the most powerful foreign brand in China.

3. Junk food and fast food are not always the same thing.

4. McD, KFC and Subway are the most popular fast food chains in the UK.

5. The industrial revolution is the main reason why British food is so bad.

6. British people prefer food from other countries and their favourite is Chinese food. And their favourite Chinese dishes are fried noodles, sweet and sour pork and Beijing roast duck.