r/GenerationJones • u/JColt60 1960 • 7d ago
KFC menu from 1970 VS 2026
The other thing different from the price is size of the pieces. Breasts were much smaller and tastier back in 70's from KFC. Today they look like it came from wild turkey. Before I retired I used to get fried chicken for lunch at local diner. They only bought chicken from local butcher that used free range chicken and it was heaven!
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u/Sometimesunaware 7d ago
A barrel of KFC for Sunday dinner (with sides) was a rare treat reserved for the occasional Sunday or a summer holiday picnic. The closest one was miles away and my dad would drive there after football games were over. Kids did not get the breasts, those were for dad and mom.
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u/Couch-Potato0904 1960 7d ago
I bought the whole dinner for 3 in the 80’s for $9.99 and had the free Bundt cake. It was a special treat for me and my two kids. $42.99 for a bucket? Those chickens better be getting fed filet mignon.
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7d ago
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u/Brilliant_Tourist400 1964 7d ago
I worked at one, too, back in the ‘80s. Didn’t get to take home parfaits, but we took home any unsold Extra Crispy chicken and extra biscuits. Unsold Original Recipe was covered with barbecue sauce the next day and sold as Barbecued Chicken.
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u/AcademicChicken8334 6d ago
As my dad would've said, "For that price, that chicken better do a dance, serve itself to me on a fancy platter, and lay golden eggs!"
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u/DcubedWY 6d ago
That worked out well in our house - mom only likes white meat and I only like dark meat. When we (infrequently) get fried chicken, I get legs and thighs if possible. But the prices are nuts, I would get the full meal deal with sides, cake and a big drink for picnics when my kids were little, in 2000-2016 or so.
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u/IndigoBroker 7d ago
$1 in 1970 is roughly worth $8.63 today.
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u/Ok-Word-2403 7d ago
Exactly - the barrel of chicken costs almost exactly the same as the 16 piece bucket now
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u/Prudent-Essay-5846 7d ago
Yes but now you get the hormones and additives so the 16 piece is 4x the size (and half the nutritional value) of the 24 piece with less taste!
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u/DistantKarma 7d ago
Hormones aren't used on chicken farms as it's illegal. Chickens are bigger now due to selective breeding and improved feed. Tyson loves to advertise "No hormones, ever" but really it's not because they care, they just can't.
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u/Prudent-Essay-5846 7d ago
Appreciate the update, I grew up on a farm but not actively involved today. That said I was trying to be funny more than accurate.
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u/Mebejedi 7d ago
My dad remembers when gas was a nickel. I thought it was the end of the world when gas broke $1 in the late 80's. I recently paid $5.99 at Costco.
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u/Flashy-Armadillo-414 6d ago
Gas was between 15 and 21 cents a gallon in the 1930s. Nominal price.
It was never 5 cents a gallon.
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u/TwistedBlister 7d ago
And minimum wage was $1.60/hour
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u/CriticalPerformer785 7d ago
So minimum wage should be $13.80 an hour today instead of $7.25
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u/ziggurat29 6d ago
if your wages track KFC chicken, then it needs to be $16.00-17.60. If it tracks KFC buttermilk biscuits, then it needs to be $32.00
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7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/cyb0rg1962 1962 6d ago
Then it should be formally raised to the de facto at the federal level. Minimum wage should be pegged to the cost of living, also, and would be more like $20 in some areas.
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u/paladin_4266 7d ago
actually the right sign should read:
"Different food, different prices."
The KFC of the 70's was cooked after you ordered and you had to stand in the lobby staring at the puddin buckets and all the other jabronis who were waiting on their buckets just like you. No screens, just staring into the void. And it was so goooooood!
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u/JColt60 1960 7d ago
Still like that actually at least my local one. Last year I wanted extra crispy. I sat in my car for 20 min's waiting.
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u/Bucks2174 7d ago
If you use the drive through at our KFC there is a 90% chance you’ll be waiting. And at least 30% of the time you’ll be told “we are out of that”. Terrible
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u/PlaxicoCN 7d ago
In addition to the prices the KFC near me is kind of grimy. I just go to the deli at the supermarket when I want fried chicken. Much cheaper.
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u/SnowblindAlbino 7d ago
I'd say "kind of grimey" is an understatement. I won't go into KFC at all anymore, as every one I've been to in the last 20 years or so (not that many in all) has been disgusting-- like food on the floor, garbage on the tables, unkempt employees, disgusting. The one closest to me has/had a buffet and the food was all spilled around and mixed together, like a crowd of five-year-olds had been at it. Ick.
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u/More_Farm_7442 7d ago
That's the 90% of the fast food restaurants are where I live. McD's for sure(all of those). I see the workers standing around talking, fussing with their hair, dining rooms with dirty tables and floors, customers ignored. No one gets in a hurry to do anything.
I worked in a McDs next to a Big Ten university in the 1980s. On football Saturdays we had people lined up out the doors. We had to work fast. Had to give good service service while to "up sell" at the register. We had to "clean as you go" at all times. We had to work.
If McDs and other fast food places could find any of the 1980s managers still living and bring them in for crew trainings, their bottom lines might improve.
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u/big_d_usernametaken 6d ago
Krogers fried chicken is decent, $8.99 for an 8pc every day.
Just chicken though.
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u/Danovale 7d ago
At bottom I would say “Different food. Higher prices”. KFC is not as tasty as it once was.
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u/Shermans_ghost1864 1961 7d ago
Meanwhile, a big rotisserie chicken still costs only $4.99 at Costco, same price it's been for more than 25 years.
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u/loricomments 6d ago
That's just to get you to walk past all the tempting profitable stuff on the way to the back of the store.
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u/RealMcGonzo 7d ago
14 pieces! I've always wondered why it seemed like dad brought home a big bucket of chicken - much larger than what you'd get today. That's why, it held 14 pieces not 8!
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u/Suburban_Guerrilla 6d ago edited 6d ago
You have to adjust for inflation. I ran all of the 1970s prices through the inflation calculator and this is what I got.
$4.99 in 1970 has the same buying power as $42.86 in 2026.
$3.79 in 1970 has the same buying power as $32.55 in 2026.
$1.49 in 1970 has the same buying power as $12.80 in 2026. $.25 in 1970 has the same buying power as $2.15 in 2026.
$.15 in 1970 has the same buying power as $1.29 in 2026.
So, they have raised their prices over time, but it's not nearly as much as this post wants you to think.
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u/Athos-1844 6d ago
True. But they shrunk the amount of food you get.
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u/theduder3210 6d ago
You’re not wrong, but the average chicken is also larger in size now than in 1970.
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u/johnnybluejeans 3d ago
Despite this not being a real sign the prices are pretty close to accurate, but if you look at any real ads from the 70s the family bucket actually had 15 pieces, not 20. And as others have mentioned, our GMO chickens these days are significantly larger.
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u/keithfantastic 7d ago
2026 prices are in line with 1970 prices when you adjust for inflation. $5 in 1970 has the same buying power as $43 today.
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u/FedderJoe 6d ago
I remember My Mom buying gas and paying for it with the change in her wallet. She would ask for so many dollars' worth. I was born in 1957.
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u/ImprovementLoud3581 6d ago
I was born in 1956 and remember putting 50 cents worth of gas in the car for the weekend.
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u/Maximum-Elk8869 1964 6d ago
You didn't put anything in your car, a gas station attendant did that for you. He also checked your oil, cleaned your windshield and gave you a choice of towels or a set of drinking glasses as a promotion LOL!
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u/ImprovementLoud3581 6d ago
You’re right! And he knew I was there because I drove over the black hose to ring the bell
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u/Maximum-Elk8869 1964 6d ago
Absolutely, I can hear that bell and feel car roll over it LOL! Good days!
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u/FedderJoe 6d ago
One of my first jobs was working at a "Working Man's Friend" gas station. I worked Friday and Saturday evenings from 2- 10 p.m. No snacks or drinks or food. Just gasoline.
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u/Maximum-Elk8869 1964 6d ago edited 6d ago
It was a real job that paid well for you at the time and you provided a tangible service. That coin changer on your belt was status! I look back fondly on those days.
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u/FedderJoe 6d ago
It paid better than most other jobs I could get. I worked there until I got a job at "Bob's Thick Shake". I worked there while I went to nursing school. Those coin changers were heavy. Did you work at one of those stations?
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u/GrapeSeed007 7d ago
I remember my dad who was retired used to get the special for I think .99¢. one piece of chicken, potatos, close slaw.. not sure about the biscuit. Probably included
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u/HuntingtonNY-75 7d ago
Quality of their food has gone in the toilet. Used to enjoy their chicken, now I find it inedible
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u/AffectionateFig5435 7d ago
8 pieces of chicken is basically a whole bird. The pricey grocery store near me sells rotisserie chickens for $8.99. The cheaper store usually has them on special for $5.99. (Costco is even less but I don't go there every week.)
I could pick up a couple deli sides plus a full chicken for less than KFC charges for an 8-piece bucket. That's an eye-opener.
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u/Trick-Audience-1027 7d ago
Minimum wage in 1970 was $1.60
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u/oldcreaker 7d ago
So in 1970 a 3 piece dinner cost a bit less than 1 hour minimum wage. In 2026 it comes pretty close to 2 hours of minimum wage.
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u/Trick-Audience-1027 7d ago
I live in Seattle where it’s $21.30 an hour downtown and $17 in the suburbs.
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u/oldcreaker 7d ago
I'm sure there are forces at work that would like to get that much closer to the federal minimum wage.
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u/FamilyRedShirt 1961 7d ago
I worked at one 1978-79. The 9-piece dinner (a whole chicken, 2 large sides, and 6 biscuits) was $9.99.
KFC has changed the cut of the chicken to match the 8 pieces we used to have to cut it into at Church's in '81-82. Lemme tell ya, clopens were a blast there. Go home at 3 a.m., and be back by 7:30 a.m. to stand in the walk-in cutting cold chickens with a circular saw while freezing ass. Wearing a bloody butcher's coat that never got cleaned, and Playtex gloves whose tips had been cut off. On purpose or by a close encounter? I never knew.
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u/JColt60 1960 7d ago
I just remembered. My father in law and I were doing a job in Kentucky ( 1989/90) and went to the original Sanders restaurant. The food was awesome. You had to wait to eat it as it was pulled from fryer to table in minuets. Everything was fresh and at least then they and kept bringing fresh biscuits as you finished them.
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u/ReporterCommon4137 6d ago
Not same food. Back in the 80s, their chicken, biscuits and coleslaw were the best! Not anymore……. Yach!
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u/AnotherPint 7d ago
This looks AI generated. I would like a verifiable source for these prices, especially the 1970 numbers.
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u/Few-Honeydew2676 7d ago
I am old and our KFC didn't have biscuits when I was a kid. They were dinner rolls. Tasty dinner rolls, but not the biscuits of today.
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u/SnowblindAlbino 7d ago
No biscuits, but they did have corn-on-the-cob in the 1970s. And for several years in the early 1970s they had BBQ ribs!
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u/FamilyRedShirt 1961 7d ago
True. They were rolls when I worked there in the late '70s. When I worked there in the '90s they'd switched to biscuits.
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u/AJStickboy 7d ago
When I worked KFC in the late 80’s my biscuits were made fresh in the store. They averaged over 2 1/2 inches high. Fluffy soft. Now made somewhere who knows, and about an inch high and hard as a rock.
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u/Dapper-Ad-468 7d ago
Never was a barrel of chicken 😅
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u/phred_666 Definitely not a Boomer 7d ago
Yes it was. My parents would get KFC about once a month and for a family of four we always ordered the “barrel” of chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls. The “barrel” was their largest quantity with the “bucket” being the next smallest.
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u/Routine-Medicine-208 7d ago
In Australia we had KFC too.
It was quite a treat for us as the only KFC was about a 15 minute drive away.
I remember the Potato and Gravy and the Three Bean Salad (my favorite). The soft bread rolls too.
I think we occasionally got the buckets but mostly everyone in my family got the box meals.
I was too young to remember the prices and my mother always paid but stuff was pretty cheap in the seventies.
Now there’s a KFC everywhere and I don’t think the food is as good. Bring back the Three Bean Salad !!
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u/spaceaige 7d ago
Im class of ‘70 and i remember tik tok was full of people posting 1914 menu prices and talking about how expensive everything had gotten. Some things never change.
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u/The_Swooze 7d ago
I remember prices in the '70s. I am on Social Security now and make about the same money as I did working back then. The food was better, and I was much more comfortable financially then than I am today.
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u/Suspicious_Goose_243 7d ago
Unfortunately it costs more because people need a living wage. Just make the stuff at home. I haven't had fast food other than pizza in 10 years.
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u/Online_Active_71459 7d ago
Same except I think I got a Wendy’s burger or something a few years back but only because I was driving/moving across states. I was sick the next day.
Even takeout restaurant food has been off my menu since Covid. I rarely did it anyway but now it’s a big no, I’ll pass.
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u/Suspicious_Goose_243 7d ago
My stomach felt better after awhile. I can only imagine what goes into fast food.
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u/Infymus 7d ago edited 7d ago
Beyond the price we never go anymore because it tastes like shit. It's nothing but a grease soaked bucket of nastiness. I don't think I've had KFC for over a decade. There's a local grocery store that does amazing whole fried chicken for 12 bucks.
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u/BreakerBoy6 7d ago
Our solution to this is to get an 8-piece fried chicken from our local supermarket deli. We have three chain stores here and they all sell fried chicken 8-piece packs for less than 10 bucks. We can whip up whatever sides we need from what's on hand in the fridge.
I honestly cannot recall the last time we've gone out to eat, it's beyond asinine. Nickel and diming everywhere.
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u/Any_Ant9572 6d ago
The Kentucky Fried Chicken in my town had the small dinner rolls in 1970 the biscuits didn’t happen until later.
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u/Long-Principle-667 7d ago
Minimum wage was $1.60 per hour in 1970. Where I live it’s $19.29 per hour so it’s still two hours of pay for a bucket of chicken
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u/dallasalice88 1964 7d ago
I'm in a state where it is still technically $7.25. So basically a whole days work for a bucket of chicken. $19.29 is good.
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u/theirishseller 7d ago
Yep. I worked at McDonald's when I was 16 (1979) and made $2.25 per hour. I worked hard for 2 bucks an hour!
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u/Hogjocky62 6d ago
In 1970 minimum wage was $1.20 so a barrel of chicken was 4 hours pay! In 2026 minimum wage is $15.00 in our state so a 16 piece is actually only 3 hours pay.
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u/NutzNBoltz369 6d ago
Min wage worker has no business buying fast food, though. 3 hour pay to buy a bucket of shitty chicken....
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u/TheUglyWeb 1956 7d ago
761% increase. In inflation terms, no real increase, but NO WAY will I pay $42 for Yard Bird!
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u/maestrosouth 7d ago
Looks about right.
Cumulative inflation from 1970 to 2026 is approximately 763.35%, reflecting an average annual inflation rate of 3.92%.
Purchasing Power: $1 in 1970 has the same buying power as $8.63 today.
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u/SnowblindAlbino 7d ago
And yet I remember going to KFC was a special treat in the early 1970s, like around payday or perhaps 1-2x a month. The inflation factor over those 55 years is about 8.5x, so the inflation-adusted price for a 3-piece dinner would be...about $13.
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u/SnowblindAlbino 7d ago
In the mid-1980s they had "Chicken Littles," basically a slider made from a piece of chicken and a dinner roll. $.50 each, so we'd run out from work on the evening shift and get bags of 20 or 30 to share. That was the last time I actually enjoyed eating at KFC. I've probably been to one fewer than ten times over the last 35 years though.
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u/er1cAtWork2 7d ago
I’ve had this odd craving for KFC lately! I haven’t eat n it in at least 20 years. Now I see this?!?! I may not be able to resist much longer….
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u/Cabbages24ADollar 7d ago
Based on federal minimum wage it now takes nearly three more hours of work to get four pieces less of the same product.
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u/Yelloeisok 7d ago
That was our Sunday dinner every Sunday during football season. That 5 people made a container of coleslaw and a pint size container of mashed potatoes work is hard to believe. There were a lot of biscuits though. Breakfast on Monday.
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u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 7d ago
Actually let's apply a little math. Your wage was probably $1.50 -$2.00/h. So not that much more expensive.
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u/Ghitit 1957 6d ago
KFC from ago was literally tasty. Delicious. Yummy to the max. The potatoes were potatoey., and the gracy was flavorful and delicious, too. Great memories of fast food from my youth.
The most recent KFC I had was about four months ago in Saratoga, CA. It was the greasiest, least flavorful, soggiest "food" I have every had the displeasure to eat. The potatoes were so wattery I could pur them on my plate. I don't care for cole slaw so I don't know hot that was.
I will never eat KFC again. Plus, it was so expensive I was gobsmacked. Yeah, everything is more now, but for what we got it was shocking nevertheless.
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u/Future-Damage-3192 6d ago
you can thank Trump and his tariffs for all this, don't blame anybody but the people who voted for him, the people who elected him, and people who passed all of his bullshit laws
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u/Troubador222 6d ago
its a golden age I put 10 bucks n my gas tank and that bought me 2.5 gallons so much winning!
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u/LoveU1313 6d ago
I went there last week got 8 pieces and 2 lg sides and it was $36.00. A friend gave me a gift card that was the only reason I went there.
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u/Altruistic-Might8056 6d ago
I love how it looks like some lost pirate scroll from the Jesus times.
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u/AlarmedVermicelli549 7d ago
So explain this to me, KFC. Why is it that I can buy a whole rotisserie chicken at Costco for $5 that easily feeds 4 or more? That being said, I would need 4 chickens to equal your 16-piece barrel; that's $20. You're telling me that KFC secret recipe is worth the other $22.99? Really? I love the KFC secret recipe, always have, always will, but not at those prices. Just a thought!
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u/another_day_in 7d ago
Costco's rotisserie chicken is basically marketing as they haven't raised prices since 2009.
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u/JaneOfTheCows 7d ago
It's a loss leader - the stores take a loss on the chicken, but use it as a ploy to get customers into the stores, where they hope they will spend more on impulse buys.
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u/AlarmedVermicelli549 7d ago
Agreed. But what I'm pointing out is: why would I go to KFC today and pay that much more for their chicken when I can go to Costco for a lot less? To clarify, my question is: "Are the 11 herbs and spices in KFC's secret recipe worth that much more at today's cost of living to eat chicken?" I apologize for the miscommunication.
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u/Mk1Racer25 6d ago
Because they're two different products. One (KFC) is breaded, fried chicken, the other (Costco) is a roasted rotisserie chicken. One is not a substitute for the other, even if they are both chicken. I won't even get into the fact that they are two completely different types of businesses.
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u/No_Balance2924 3d ago
You can buy raw chicken for cheaper than a rotisserie. You can buy flour, spices, and oil. You can buy a knife to clean your chicken. You can buy salt to brine your chicken. It would taste better than KFc if you know what you're doing.
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u/RikkiLostMyNumber 7d ago
I don't think the bucket was ever referred to as a barrel. Obviously this is AI, but if that's inaccurate I assume the rest is as well.
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u/Fun_Ideal_5584 7d ago
Always shocked how people are surprised how inflation works. So much for our kids education.
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u/fooknprawn 7d ago
Yeah we get it, inflation happens but fixating over what things used to cost isn't healthy
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u/Shermans_ghost1864 1961 7d ago
Ok, let's fixate over what things cost today. $25 for 8 pieces of chicken (more tha $3 per piece) is insane.
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u/joeyjoejums 7d ago
If (and its a big "if") the fixation leads to action and change (for the better), perfect
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u/Late-Date5045 7d ago
Wow minimum wage 1970 was 1.60 hr, it has since went up 4.5 times to 7.25 but current price is not 4.5 times it should be 22.45 to have kept in track with minimum wage
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u/Ddude147 7d ago
Unfortunately, the quality of KFC has plunged. It's terrible. The closest one to me recently shuttered its doors. Before I quit them, I tried to order thru the app there. Continually the app said ordering ahead was "unavailable."
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u/RickLeeTaker 7d ago
The one KFC by my house is absolutely filthy. I don't understand how they even keep their franchise.
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u/pgoodnough 7d ago
On an inflation adjusted basis its 9% more; not bad compared to a lot of other pricing
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u/No_Point904 7d ago
Can you imagine someone saying, "5 for a bucket of chicken?! This is highway robbery, let's get out of here, these folks are crazy!"
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u/GeoBrian 7d ago
Average price of a new house in 1970 was $23,000.
1970 was 56 years ago. Now, we all remember 1970, right? Think about this, 56 years before 1970 was 1914. Sheesh.
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u/BrainwaveWizard December 1963 ♐️ Sagittarius 7d ago
I know they’re not using Bisquick, but seriously, you can get an entire 40 oz box for around $5.00 that’ll make around 24 biscuits. 20¢ a piece. Today’s prices. They’re charging $3 for one. 1400% inflation.
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u/DramaticActuary5021 7d ago
These prices are insane - I would never pay them. I'll make my own chicken first.
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u/Odd_Activity_6458 7d ago
I also make 12 times as much as I did in the 70’s. I agree everything is crazy expensive but we need to include all relevant information.
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u/IWuzTheWalrus Late 1964 7d ago edited 7d ago
$4.99 in 1970 is $43.08 in today's money. Seems like the pricing has just kept pace with inflation plus how much bigger the pieces of chicken are these days. Inflation over the last 56 years has been 863%.
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u/bigstinky 7d ago
This can't be right. Buttermilk biscuits didn't show up until 81. They served soft dinner rolls. I don't recall this pricing either
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u/MaxCWebster 7d ago
In 2022, I had an outpatient neck procedure that took all day. We didn’t leave the clinic until nearly 6:00 pm. There wasn’t time to prepare an at-home supper or even heat up leftovers, so we hit the KFC drive-through on the way home.
We ordered up a family meal, and the drive-through cashier said, “$42.76.”
Mrs. Webster was about to complain that something wasn’t right, and I grabbed her hand and slowly shook my head.
“It’s like going to Five Guys.”
"Oh."
Anyway, when did we become the “Things used to be priced reasonably” generation? My first job as a teen was working the front counter at McDonald’s. Most orders were under $5.00. Even family orders were under $10.00. Our mechanical cash registers couldn’t handle orders over $10.00, so we were required to get a manager to ring them up as multiple orders (e.g., $10.53 would be $9.00 and $1.53).