The saucy, mozzarella and bacon-topped crispy chicken burger has reignited the classic “parma” or “parmi” debate, with Victorians accusing the fast-food chain of siding with its New South Wales and Queensland counterparts which largely favour “parmi” as the abbreviation for parmigiana. KFC is promoting the limited edition burger with the tagline, “it’s Parmi, like you’ve never tasted it before”. “Mouthwatering chicken, drizzled with rich Parmi sauce, melted mega mozart cheese sticks and sizzling bacon,” it’s product description reads. “It’s more than a Parmi … it’s the KFC Original Crispy Parmi burger.” But Melburnians have taken to social media in protest, questioning why it wasn’t called Parma. This includes Victorian Libertarian Party Leader David Limbrick, who took to Instagram to share his concerns in a short but comical video. “Parmi, what’s a f**king Parmi,” he said while looking at the KFC burger menu on a self-serve order machine. This was accompanied by the caption: “Next they’ll be trying to sell us ‘potato scallops’ or pretend that ‘rugby’ is a real sport”.
And he wasn’t the only one in a spin over the name. Others took to Reddit to slam the move, with one critic sharing a photo of an ad of the burger on a bus, with the caption: “looks like KFC doesn’t want our business here”. “I’m absolutely livid,” one person responded in all capitals. “‘Not here for long’, let’s get rid of it now,” another added. One even suggested KFC called it a Parmi on purpose because “they know there will be outrage in Vic, which then will result in discussion and images shared”. It’s not the first time a fast-food chain’s rendition of the burger has sparked outrage from Victorians, with Red Rooster’s Parmi Burger in 2019 drawing the same attention.
In its defence, it later quizzed customers on whether the burger should be called a “parma” or a “parmi”, with the majority siding with “parmi” on that one. Sorry Victoria. In fact, Melburnians seem to be the only ones in Australia who call the pub classic a “parma”, with other states adopting variations of “parmi” or even “parmy”. Even the regional Victorian suburb of Geelong is known to call its Parmigianas “parmis”.
McDonald’s was another fast food retailer that sparked debate when it called its potato cakes – as Victorians call them – potato scallops. Regarding KFC, some reports suggest the fried chicken chain attempted to address the issue by renaming the burger to ‘Parma’ on screens in its Victorian stores.
However, this change does not appear to be consistent across all venues. So is it a Parmi or a Parma burger? News.com.au has contacted KFC for comment.
