Pizza Hut in the context of "Wichita, Kansas"

KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American multinational fast food restaurant chain specializing in Southern fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with over 31,980 locations globally in 150 countries, as of September 2025. The chain is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant company that also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains.

KFC was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders (1890–1980), an entrepreneur who began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. Sanders identified the potential of the restaurant-franchising concept, and the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise opened in South Salt Lake, Utah, in 1952. KFC popularized chicken in the fast-food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of the hamburger. By branding himself as "Colonel Sanders", Harland became a prominent figure of American cultural history, and his image remains widely used in KFC advertising to this day. However, the company's rapid expansion overwhelmed the aging Sanders, and he sold it to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack C. Massey in 1964.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (sometimes called just Yum!) is an American multinational fast food corporation. It was formed in 1977 as a subsidiary of PepsiCo, after the company acquired KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. PepsiCo divested the brands in 1997, and these consolidated as Yum!. The company operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Habit Burger & Grill, and several technology companies.

Yum! was founded as Tricon Global Restaurants after PepsiCo finalized the split. In 2002, it took its current name after they merged with Yorkshire Global Restaurants, which at the time was the parent company of A&W, who also spun off an international branch. In China, the restaurant brands are operated by another company known as Yum China.