KFC shifts television advertising for its boneless chicken tenders as supply for the cut becomes scarce

In the near future, you’ll no longer hear the crackle or crunch of KFC’s boneless chicken tenders on television. That’s because the labor-intensive cut is the latest victim in the ongoing chicken shortage frustrating restaurants nationwide, CBS News reports. Chicken wing costs soared earlier this year, and now, with bone-in cuts more plentiful, KFC is hoping that shifting its marketing priorities will help keep demand for its boneless tenders in check. Like many pandemic-era supply chain issues, the tenuous availability of tenders is partly due to worker shortages at poultry processors. But experts say the pandemic has merely exacerbated what has been a long-term struggle for meat plants. To try and keep up with a seemingly bottomless appetite for poultry amid a dearth in labor, Pilgrim’s Pride, one of the nation’s largest poultry producers, is pouring millions into automation over the next year.