The Big Chicken (KFC)
Smyrna, GA 30080-3008
Phone: (770) 850-0940
- Hours:
- Daily 11am-8pm
Editorial Review for The Big Chicken (KFC) – by Justin Williams
Overview
The Big Chicken is the extraordinary sign for a very ordinary Kentucky Fried Chicken in Marietta. In 1963, the owner of a drive-in greasy spoon hatched a big idea. St. Louis could have its arch; New York could keep its Lady Liberty--what Marietta needed was a chicken. And thus Tubby Davis, owner of Johnny Reb's Restaurant, and an egghead Georgia Tech engineering student built the world's first and only postmodern cubist steel chicken. Built with locally milled bars and plates from Atlantic Steel, the 50-foot Big Chicken is still the most recognizable landmark in Cobb County.
The Draw
Three decades and two owners later, the Big Chicken still rises proudly above Cobb Parkway. Its legacy has spread to the surrounding businesses and streets, each picking up the nomenclature of "Big Chicken this" and "Big Chicken that." After a 1993 storm caused severe damage, KFC considered deboning the Chicken but a public and political outcry saved the bird.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
Know Before You GoVisitors can tour the Big Chicken and its gift shop. KFC still operates with a full-fare menu, although most just visit to see what all the flap is about.
User Reviews for The Big Chicken (KFC)
08/02/2006 Posted by tinka3000
When I visited newly transplanted family friends when I was a teenager, they drove us by the Big Chicken (which I think was brown then - late 1980s) and told us how people navigated by it and the whole deal. Is it a huge, exciting, life-altering experience to see the Big Chicken? No, but it is great tacky Americana at its best. No offense to the people who think it is a stupid billboard and a horrible eyesore, but I think they're missing the point. It didn't even start out as a Kentucky Fried Chicken, and for them to run with the whole chicken thing is sort of ingenius as a marketing tool - easy to find, creates a buzz... It's silly, just like all other weirdly shaped giant buildings and/or figures (lobsters, pineapples, the tie-dye llama in downtown NYC...). They're meant to catch your eye, and I'd say a 55ft chicken does the trick. Go. Stand outside and get your picture taken. Show it to friends and say, "Yes, this thing actually exists, and it is that freakin' big." Then move on to the next cheesy thing that's a little inexplicable and makes you say, "What the... Stop the car. I gotta know what that is!"
01/13/2006 Posted by mgarc1125
Its a dumb chicken type billboard/sign. Not worth even looking at if you drive by it.
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