1976
An old lady ordered out for Kentucky Fried Chicken. She was eating along when she noticed teeth; she pulled back the crust and discovered she was eating a rat. She had a heart attack and died, and her relatives sued Kentucky Fried Chicken for a lot of money.
1977
There was a wife who didn't have anything ready for supper for her husband. So she quick got a basket of chicken and tried to make her dinner look fancy with the pre-pared chicken. Thus, she fixed a candle-light dinner, etc. When her and her husband started eating the chicken, they thought it tasted funny. Soon to find out it was a fried rat.
Variations:
The name of the fast food joint is a different name, but it is nearly always a large well known buisness. It has to be a large corp. to horrify you.
In most versions the chicken is consumed in a dark place (e.g., a car, a theater, a darkened room).
How the rat came to be mixed in with the chicken is usually not explained, although it is sometimes attributed to unsanitary conditions or employee sabotage.
A few variants involve other animals, such as a mouse or a cat (the latter in the sabotage versions).
The victims who eat the rats are most frequently female, less often male, and occasionally both members of a couple.
The victim always becomes ill, sometimes requiring hospitalization in some versions, even develops psychological problems (such as giving up eating chicken for good) or even dies (from poison in the rat).
The legend often ends with the mention of a lawsuit, which is either pending or has already been decided in favor of the plaintiffs or with them wining a very large award.
Why is it popular? Simple people are uneasy and paranoid about fast food.-JLB
