Long John Silver is a fictional character in the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. He is a pirate, and was the ship's cook under Captain Flint; Silver was said to have been the only man whom Flint ever feared.
Long John Silver's is a fast-food restaurant, specializing in seafood and "fish and chips". The restaurant, which has 2200 units, is a division of Yum! Brands, Inc, which purchased it from Yorkshire Global Restaurants, which acquired it from Fleet Boston Bank, who gained control of the restaurants...due to bankruptcy. Yum! appears to intend to combine the brand with its chain of A&W restaurants; most Long John Silver's locations that have opened in recent years are cobranded Long John Silver's/A&W restaurants.
The first restaurant was opened in 1969 in Lexington, Kentucky. Until its bankruptcy in 1998, Long John Silver's was a privately owned corporation.
The restaurant chain was the subject of some controversy in the late 1990s for a commercial in which a police officer decided not to write a ticket to a motorist who gave him a Long John Silver's fish sandwich. Many police organizations objected to the commercial on the grounds that it depicted a police officer taking a bribe.
See also: Priszm Brandz
