Oprah and KFC's Free Grilled Chicken Promotion: What Went Wrong
Emily in Chicago (Oprah Central) wondered why none of the restaurants she visited were participating in the KFC grilled chicken promotion. Readers across the country have reported franchises not cooperating, long waits, and chicken outages. She got an unofficial answer from someone in management.
According to her source,
What's happening is that the franchised stores are not being reimbursed for the coupons. I was told that Oprah is backing corporate for the costs of the free chicken; franchise stores, if they participate at all, are simply giving away food and losing the money.
This is the third KFC I've checked in the city, and the third with signs stating their lack of participation. It was apparently poorly planned on corporate's part. This particular manager didn't even know of the promotion beforehand, but she's working to find a compromise, such as a day where the specific store will accept the coupon.
Maybe KFC should have called Quiznos for advice before planning a massive giveaway without reimbursing franchise owners.
UPDATE: An admin on the Oprah.com messageboards (yes, there are Oprah.com messageboards) posted a contact address for coupon issues.
Please email KFC.PublicRelations@KFC.com with any problems concerning your KFC coupon.
Thank you,
-HarpoBear, Oprah.com Community Producer
Check out these signs from DB in Dallas and Casey in South Carolina. I give creative spelling bonus points.
PREVIOUSLY:
Going to KFC For Free Chicken? You've Got A Long Wait
Some KFCs Are Already Out Of Free Chicken
(Photo: Morton Fox)
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Comments:
Is it just me, or does that chicken look really greasy and nasty?
It seems like this, as with other such free food promotions, are more trouble than they're worth. At least for the consumer.
And when does Oprah Winfrey's image start taking blow back from these shilling stunts that backfire?
Talk about not studying before the test. I wonder what the percentage is of Franchise owned KFC's?
"unuring"
wow.
wait...maybe they meant Onion Rings! Onion shortages in SC? it could happen.
Can anyone translate "unuring" for me?
I figured this would happen. I didnt bother downloading it anyways.
Unuring? Really? I think that frnachise has bigger problems than a poorly planned promotion.
Can you believe the spelling on those signs? Unbelievable. And I'm also seeing more and more bad spelling all over the web, even on Microsoft's own site where they had an interstitial promoting "Movie Night" for Wolverine...except it was spelled "Move"
Education really has to be a priority for this country.
My favorite part about this whole story is the picture of the voided coupon with the note from the management. The coupon is trying to get people in to the facility to try the new chicken, and the management says they are not going to take the coupon... but right above it all it says "Unthink KFC"... Being promised free food and then not getting it will really make me unthink it, with a quickness!
It took me WAY too long to figure out what "unuring" meant. And what's with the Att: KFC? That sign belong on Failblog for sure.
@Hotscot: Or maybe some idiots should pay attention in school and learn how to spell.
I'm just anxiously waiting for someone to chime in about the poor spelling... while misspelling.
The KFC right around the corner from me has a Manager change atleast once a quarter. I think once you start skoolin, they terminate you.
Who in the organization thought that positive publicity from this promotion would outweigh the animosity created by its inevitable failure?
Wait. What happened to the executive behind the Red Lobster 'endless crab' debacle? I think that I may have a guess.
@Hotscot: The typed one is even more inexcusable, since they didn't even bother to use the spell check function. I'm always shocked when I see that.
One fact that is rarely mentioned is that the coupon site only supported Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. When I tried to print off a coupon last night, I was greeted with an unhelpful page stating that my Linux browser was unsupported and that I needed either Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X to print the coupons. According to other reports, Windows and Mac OS X users were required to install a third party program in order to print the coupons.
@wgrune: It really does, but apparently it is healthier than the fried chicken. I just figured instead of frying it, they covered the chicken in oils and grilled it. Still not health food, but better than fried.
No one has mentioned that this would be a great "inconvinience" instead of inconvenience?
@valen: Windows users needed a third party program as well. They also didn't mention anywhere Chrome wasn't supported so my coupon wouldn't print and my IP was blacklisted.
No problems here in Colorado! This is my 4th coupon. I am starting to get sick of eating chicken. Will give the other 5 away to some firends that need it! No shortages at the KFC's and no wait time.
Honestly, I feel people would be more sympathetic towards KFC if they simply explained why they were participating in this promotion. Simply saying "No Chicken for you" and showing the customer the door is the equivalent of a "Get the f**k out!".
@valen: Yeah I got that too. The site said you need IE, FF, or Safari, but what they really meant was something like...
"Fk you linux users"
I was at Great Clips yesterday and they spelled it "inconvence". At least with "inconvinience" they attempted to sound it out.
@valen: It is rarely mentioned because Linux users are unimportant. Really, Mac users are unimportant too, but they try to include them in promotions since they are generally gullible and like to spend 3X the actual value of item when buying something, making them good consumers.
What went wrong?
When you put the words "Free" in front of anything fast food you're going to have some serious scalability issues, especially if your franchises aren't prepared for it.
The only times I've seen stores prepared are Wendy's with the free frosties after the finger chili incident and Ben and Jerry's with the free cones. There was a line, but it moved quickly and there weren't any complaints. There may be more incidences where it's worked out that I'm unaware of.
What did they think was going to happen, especially after the previous 4 give-a-ways by food establishments have been either a feasibility and availability cluster or a total meltdown?
I smelled this a mile away
@Odiase: Correction: Honestly, I feel people would be more sympathetic towards KFC if they simply explained why they were NOT participating in this promotion...
@wgrune: Ugh. I *just* had my free KGC meal. Color me underwhelmed. The chicken is exactly as greasy and nasty as feared, and since there's no choice to choose your own accoutrements, you're stuck with the biscuit/mashed potato & gravy/cole slaw standard package. For a free meal, it's not really worth the price. Even though there are 3 other chances to use this coupon, they'll probably go to waste.
@Radi0logy: Pretty much this. The company in charge of the IT work, maybe KFC itself, decided that it was not a profitable move to include Linux users. When you come out with your own chicken company or marketing company, you can choose to include Linux users. It's that simple!
@Hotscot:
I'd just be happy if people could get a basic grip on the use of the apostrophe. Such as the fact that it does not ever, under any circumstance, indicate plurality. Not even on acronyms, like PCs or ATVs. Start there, and then next we'll tackle the mind-boggling intricacies of the 4-way stop...
@Gtmac...and sometimes y: What is even more scary is the person who wrote the sign was designated the task by someone running the show at that location. If that is the result of that store's best speller it sounds even more sad.
@JayCor: My local KFC outlets are giving a choice of sides. Not sure how your grilled chicken came out greasy.
All I know is I have to drive past a KFC to get home from work it's totally killing my commute with all the people trying to get into the dang parking lot. Not that I'm bitter or anything.
@sophistiKate: I think it's Southern for "We aint got none".
Also I know of another KFC that when asked to see the colonel, the reply was "i say he dead". (right family guy viewers?)
anywho... back to work for me!
-dave
@valen: Plus, the coupon printer doesn't even really work under Windows (it's notoriously buggy and refuses to install if you have PDF-writing software or a network printer, even if you also have a local printer), and it's spyware. Not worth it!
@zentex: It took me a few minutes and some head tilting to figure out what they were actually trying to spell there.
@JayCor:
They let us choose our sides when we used the coupons, and even gave us white meat...but we were probably the 3rd coupon they had seen at that point, so they were still pretty chipper about it.
As for the chicken. It was ok..I guess when I eat fast food chicken I WANT it covered in a crispy coating. I can make grilled chicken at home.
@Hotscot: Oh, didn't you get the memo? Advertising and interactive agencies have been laying off their proofreaders for over a year, if they had any in the first place.
Apparently, their not needed. ;)
@zentex: And the same people are cooking your food. Yikes.
Hope they know how to read the instructions.
@chrylis: they changed using the coupon site because the coupon site crashed... it got redirected to Oprah's site where its a PDF download (same coupon/barcode) for everyone...
which means unlimited coupons... does KFC offer free unlimited chicken? no...
I love how the corporate office and the franchisees are never on the same page.
I may as well just post a coupon crudely scrawled in crayon offering free french fries at McDonalds. It won't be honored any more than these coupons are, but hey it's free publicity, right?
Basically, if Oprah touches it it is crap.