In a move that surprises absolutely no one, KFC has ended its free chicken promotion. If you still have a coupon, visit a participating restaurant for a raincheck.(Side note: The president of KFC is Australian South African?!)

It sounds like the rainchecks will have staggered redemption dates, so that crazy things don’t result such as “every US Internet user rushing KFC restaurants in a span of 48 hours.” Just a guess.

Here’s the president’s message:

We are so sorry, but due to the overwhelming response to our FREE Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal coupon, we can no longer redeem the free coupon at this time. But we will honor our commitment to giving you a free Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal.

Please visit a participating KFC restaurant for a rain check form. Complete the form, attach your original coupon , and give it to the KFC restaurant manager or postmark per the form’s instructions, by May 19, 2009, and we’ll send you a rain check for your free Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal at a later date, plus a free Pepsi with our compliments. Your participating KFC restaurant will provide you with the form you need.

Please note that the redemption periods of the rain checks will vary. All other terms and conditions of the original free Kentucky Grilled Chicken coupon will apply.

Thank you for your understanding,
Roger Eaton

Ah, well, there’s always El Pollo Loco. If there’s one near you. Which there probably isn’t.

Rain Check Information [KFC.com] (Thanks, Daniel!)

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