"Freeze my chickens? I'd rather eat beef!" was another line. He told his viewers that if they were not completely satisfied, they should write him directly and he would give them their money back. Do not write the government, he said: "The president of the United States? What does he know about chickens?"

Mr. Perdue's ads had an enormous effect on the company's business. According to a Perdue Farms survey taken in early 1972, brand recognition in New York, where most of the ads first appeared, rose to 51 percent in several months. The ads transformed Perdue into the first nationally recognized brand of chicken.

Mr. Perdue started developing his production system on the family farm. Just before World War II, an infectious disease, leukosis, wiped out the flock of 2,000 leghorns. The Perdues turned to a healthier breed, New Hampshire reds, and switched the business to broilers from egg production. When meat prices climbed during World War II, the Perdues began hatching their own chicks by the thousands, raised them, sold them and prospered.

By the time Mr. Perdue became president of Perdue Farms, its processing plants were producing 2.6 million broilers a year.

Mr. Perdue developed a method of adding marigold petals and dye to the feed that gave his birds a golden-yellow hue; the characteristic color did not affect their taste, but seemed to please customers and sell birds.

In the 1970's, he added processing plants in Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina and was able to ship more than two million broilers a week, packed in ice, not frozen.

The Perdue innovations in production, marketing and advertising were imitated in the poultry business and contributed to its consolidation. After the chickens were hatched at the Perdue Farms, they were sent to hundreds of contract farms to be raised. At one time, at the Country Time farm in Salisbury, one farmer tended two cavernous houses, each holding 30,000 chickens. Everything was automated, and lights burned 22 hours a day to keep the birds eating. After seven weeks of feeding, the birds, having grown to eight pounds, went to Perdue's processing plants.