KFC Has A Different Name In Quebec. Here's Why

The great thing about traveling in Canada is that you get two official languages for the price of one. You can eat KFC in Ottawa, hop in a car for two hours, and by the time you get to Montreal, you'll see the same grinning Colonel, but not at "KFC." In the French-speaking province of Quebec, the Kentucky Fried Chicken we know and love is not called KFC, but rather PFK — that's the French initialism, short for Poulet Frit Kentucky. So the easy answer to why KFC has a different name is just a matter of translation, but there's more to the story than just that. 

In 1977, the province of Quebec's Charter of the French Language was introduced, which gave enterprises with non-French names until the end of 1980 to incorporate the language. The goal was to protect and uphold the French language in the province. Despite this inclusion in the charter, names of businesses were of less concern than the service language and signage within their walls.

However, KFC, aka PFK, was an early adopter of the language change, before the provincial government began to put additional pressure on businesses with non-French commercial names. Even though the dust has settled on legal battles between major American brands (though not KFC) and the province, you still eat Poulet Frit Kentucky in Quebec, despite the fact that in France the chain goes by the global brand name of KFC.

Things heated up in 2012, when an increase in complaints to the province's language agency, The Quebec Office of the French Language, led to a crackdown on non-French business names. Responding to The New York Times in 2012, spokesperson for the language agency, Martin Bergeron, said it had until then "tolerated" signs with only non-French trademarks, but that a "growing influx" of international retailers triggered a renewal of interest in the matter with the agency. 

Cracking down on these incoming brands, the office issued fines to several international retailers. Six major brands pushed back, including Walmart, Costco, Best Buy, Gap, Old Navy, and Guess, initiating a suit against the provincial government. This culminated in a resolution in 2014, when a Quebec Superior Court Justice ruled that the businesses with non-French names didn't contravene the language charter. This opened a window to rebrand PFK over to internationally recognized KFC, yet to this day, Quebec's signage reads the same name as it ever has post-1977.

Being an early adopter of French into its branding has been an advantage for PFK. Compliance with language demands early on meant that the KFC brand found a resonance with its French-speaking population, while remaining the same instantly identifiable brand. Interestingly, after Colonel Harland Sanders started the fried chicken chain in a Kentucky gas station, he actually moved to Ontario, Canada in 1965 to support Canadian franchisees, and he lived there for the rest of his life.