The Time Colonel Sanders Didn't Hold Back About KFC's Food And Got Sued For It

Once you know the rowdy history of Colonel Harland Sanders, the iconic (and very real) founder of KFC — and the man whose face is the company logo — it's really not that shocking he once got sued by the very company he founded in 1929. It happened after a massive expansion in the 1950s and early '60s inspired the Colonel to sell the company to investors, who later sold to food and beverage company Heublein in the '70s. But it was a franchisee who sued Sanders for libel in 1975.

Sanders had remained the face of KFC throughout that time, reportedly keeping an eye on its restaurants. And he wasn't shy about being critical when things weren't up to his standards. Sanders was genuinely steamed at the decline in KFC's food quality since his departure and semi-regularly commented about it. 

One interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal caught the attention of a local KFC owner. Sanders described KFC's mashed potatoes as "sludge" and the gravy as "wallpaper paste," leading a Kentucky KFC location to slap him and the newspaper with a libel lawsuit, claiming his comments could hurt them commercially. Sanders added that "There's no nutrition in it and they ought not to be allowed to sell it" and "My god, that gravy is horrible." Sanders hated more than just the gravy: In the same interview, he took aim at a new chicken product, saying, "That new 'crispy' recipe is nothing in the world but a damnfried doughball stuck on some chicken." 

Ultimately, Sanders and his criticism came out on top. Kentucky's Supreme Court threw out the case on the basis that Sanders was talking generally about the company, which then had over 5,000 restaurants. Because he didn't target a specific restaurant or person, Sanders' comments didn't hurt a specific group of people, therefore, he wasn't liable for libel. Not that it changed anything for the franchise. KFC still makes the mashed potatoes and gravy that way, which is why it's on Chowhound's list of KFC items we recommend avoiding.

That wasn't Sanders' only run-in with the courts over KFC, though. A few years earlier, he had opened a restaurant called "The Colonel Lady's Dinner House" with his wife Claudia, leading Heublein to sue Sanders, as they had the rights to the "Colonel" name. Sanders turned the tables and subsequently sued Heublein for misusing his image, saying it was being slapped on foods like pastries and dairy products that hadn't been linked to him. 

The Colonel and Heublein settled out of court, although Sanders arguably came out on top, as he received a $1 million settlement from them, just under the $122 million he was after. In exchange, he was forced to change the restaurant name to "The Claudia Sanders Dinner House," eliminating references to the Colonel. The company had long been protective of the terminology "Colonel" and "Kentucky fried," having won suits against other restaurants with words like those in their names in court, yet they couldn't beat their own iconic founder.