• MSNBC/AP, Monday, March 24, 2008 11:16 AM

In a makeover that KFC's chief food innovation officer calls "transformational, the fast-food chain built by a secret recipe for fried chicken is about to give equal billing to grilled chicken. Storefront signs will be altered to promote the new product--called Kentucky Grilled Chicken--and even the brand's well-known buckets will get a makeover, says Doug Hasselo.

The subsidiary of Yum Brands hopes grilled chicken will lure back health-conscious consumers who have cut back or dropped fried chicken from their diets. It has significantly fewer calories and fat, plus much less sodium, than the original recipe.

KFC has been testing Kentucky Grilled Chicken for about 2 1/2 years, and even Gregg Dedrick, the chain's president, admits he's been anxious at times about the wait. In Colorado Springs, grilled chicken sales had a robust start, backed by TV spots that ended about a year and a half ago. Since then sales have slipped so KFC plans a series of TV ads promoting grilled chicken in test markets.

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