KFC apologizes for chicken shortage with 'FCK' newspaper ads

Hundreds of KFC locations in the U.K. were closed after a problem with the restaurants' new delivery provider resulted in a chicken shortage. (AP/iStock)

It’s been a foul week for KFC.

The fast-food chain issued a full-page apology for the chicken crisis that forced hundreds of U.K. locations to close after running out of poultry.

The cheeky advertisement ran in local papers across the country and features a KFC chicken bucket that instead reads ‘FCK.’

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"A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It's not ideal,” the ad reads. “Huge apologies to our customers, especially those who travelled out of their way to find we were closed. And endless thanks to our KFC team members and our franchise partners for working tirelessly to improve the situation. It's been a hell of a week, but we're making progress, and every day more and more fresh chicken is being delivered to our restaurants. Thank you for bearing with us."

KFC blamed the chicken shortage on an issue with DHL, their new delivery company. “The chicken crossed the road, just not to our restaurants,” KFC’s British branch tweeted Sunday.

“We’ve brought a new delivery partner on board, but they’ve had a couple of teething problems – getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!”

The drama continued when KFC workers were accused of “smuggling” raw chicken into one of the chain’s restaurants. Video surfaced showing two workers carrying six “bulging and gloopy shaped” black bags into the KFC restaurant in Erith, southeast London.

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Hungry patrons have been so upset by the lack of chicken that some have even gone so far as to contact local police, who had to issue a statement reminding people that it “is not a police matter if your favourite eatery is not serving the menu that you desire.”