The 'KFC Deep Fried Rat' meme stems from a 2015 viral claim where a customer alleged he was served a breaded rodent at a California franchise, an incident later debunked by DNA testing which confirmed it was actually oddly shaped chicken. Years later, the story evolved into the 'Rats When They See A KFC Deep Fryer' trend, typically featuring videos of rats or people leaping enthusiastically into hazards or bodies of water. This subversion of the original gross-out story portrays rats as being irresistibly drawn to the fryers, turning a corporate PR nightmare into a surreal piece of internet absurdist humor often accompanied by dramatic music like 'Dream On' by Aerosmith.