|
Legend: A customer who picks up some fried chicken from a fast food outlet discovers that an unusual-tasting piece is actually a batter-fried rat.
Examples:
Variations:
are easy to explain. Within the context of fast food restaurants, the offending eatery has to be a fried chicken outlet in order for the rat to be suitably disguised as a piece of food. Once the restaurant is established as one that serves fast-food chicken, it becomes Kentucky Fried Chicken because, as folklorist Gary Alan Fine writes, "The frequency of attachment of an urban legend to the largest company or corporation is so common as to be considered a law of urban folklore." (These days, however, many KFC outlets receive their chicken pieces pre-battered, and thus one of them could not "accidentally" batter and fry a rat.) The choice of a rat as a contaminant is easy: rats have turned up in food products before; they're the right size and shape to be mistaken for pieces of chicken (especially when fried in batter); and rats are vermin, symbols of filth and decay. The fact that the rat-chicken is usually eaten in the dark is a plot device to prevent premature discovery of the "secret," although some might consider it an important symbolic aspect of the legend.
So, what does this legend have to say? As our society becomes more urbanized (and frenetic), we become less and less involved with the preparation of our own food, frequently dining out instead of eating at home, scarfing a quick meal rather than enjoying a leisurely one, and leaving the food preparation entirely in the hands of others. And these others are not local restaurateurs we know well, but anonymous corporate fast food franchisees and their faceless employees. The combination of our guilt at abdicating this responsibility and our mistrust of corporations is expressed as fear that fast food entities who don't care about us will serve us tainted food prepared under unsanitary conditions, due to carelessness, laziness, or sheer malice. Women are most often the victim in this legend probably because they are considered more vulnerable than men, but perhaps also because this tale reinforces the notion that women have abdicated their traditional role as the family's meal preparers (with tragic results). The ultimate in impersonal endings occurs when the victims file a lawsuit against the restaurant. A personal apology or settlement is no longer feasible: the impersonal corporate franchise must be battled in the equally impersonal civil court system. Chicken Head Update: From the "You Deserve a Beak Today" category, 
on On 30 November 2000, the Ortegas announced they had hired a lawyer and were contemplating a lawsuit against McDonald's. Legal experts don't think the family would win an award much higher than a couple of thousand dollars because no one ate the piece or was physically harmed by it. (Even in our litigious society, harm has to be demonstrated, and it's not enough just to claim "I was grossed out by this" to gain the big bucks. A small award to compensate for the shock of the discovery might not be out of order,
Katherine Ortega has posed for a number of photos of her holding the chicken head, which may work against her if she tries to seek compensatory damages for psychological harm arising out of the incident. A jury will have a difficult time believing she is now nauseated by chicken or has difficulty sleeping after being presented with photographic evidence of her repeatedly and voluntarily handling the offensive item. Those who have taken the photographs note the fried batter on the item looks to be the same as on the chicken wings. The McNoggin, however, has yet to be examined by experts. An enforcement officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who is looking into the case is at a loss to explain how the head ended up in Ortega's order of wings. The first thing that happens in the processing of live chickens into poultry parts is their beheading, with the heads immediately being discarded. The carcasses then go on to the next stage (which is being dropped into the boiling water to At this point, not enough is known to determine if anyone is trying to hoax anyone else, if a poultry plant worker or McDonald's employee thought he'd have himself an innocent bit of fun, or if something went severely wrong with the food processing procedures at the plant and thus a McNoggining could happen again. Further information will be provided as soon as it is available. Fried Mouse Update: In September 2003, Tony Hill, a pastor in Baltimore, claims he bit into a batter-fried mouse at a Popeye's in that town. Various news media outlets have reported Popeye's, a popular chain of chicken eateries, has refused comment, but the city health commissioner has stated that particular outlet has had rodent infestation problems before and has been closed two other times for infestation or unsanitary conditions. The matter is under investigation, and Mr. Hill has said he has engaged the services of a lawyer. Last updated: 25 January 2007 This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
 Also told in:
|
|
