Does anyone remember the free chicken giveaway a few months back via Oprah by Kentucky Fried Chicken?Funny story - in the middle of a recession, KFC decides to roll out some new GRILLED chicken menu option and someone comes up with the great idea to drum up some publicity by giving away FREE meals through Oprah. All you had to do was go to www.oprah.com and print a coupon.
Sounds easy, right?
Well ... apparently they either underestimated the depth of the recession or the popularity of their chicken or the lengths people would go to for free food ... most likely all of the above. So many MILLIONS of people downloaded those coupons and went to KFC for some free food (including the Barretts), they finally had to pull the plug. AFTER giving away 4 Million FREE Meals.
They ran out of chicken.
In order to perform to their promise, they actually had to take people's information and mail out rainchecks for future dates. I can't even imagine what this little promo must have cost their bottom line ...
Little wonder that this little blunder made CNN/Fortune's list for the Dumbest Moments in 2009.
Case in point: my three year old.
Since our failed attempt to get chicken during the promotion, Jared is convinced that KFC has no chicken. Whenever we drive by a store (which he now recognizes from our ONE attempt to eat their during his lifetime), he says, "Look, Mom! There's KFC. They ran out of chicken."
Awesome branding there, KFC. Awesome branding.
All that to say, our coupon finally arrived. It was good from July 17th through August 30th. This evening we braved KFC for a little family date night.
The verdict: Family date night was fun ... but I remember why we don't eat at KFC. Free was ok, but if I would have had to pay the $12 for the two meals we shared, I definitely would have passed.
Tim's comment on the way out, "We should short KFC."
And, that folks, pretty much sums it up.
1 comment:
I too participated in that promo. I was able to print off 4 valid coupons (each with their own serial number) but they would not honor them. They told me to give them my info and I would be mailed a voucher. They said the reason was because people were coming in with photocopied coupons. Anyway, I didn't hold out hope that I'd ever see those vouchers, but lo and behold - they did come! All 4 of them! I agree with you - I'm all for anything free, but I would not pay $6 for that meal.
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