Oprah’s Kentucky Fried Throwdown

Image courtesy of Creative Commons user Pengrin

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Oprah’s free chicken coupon led to a Kentucky Fried throwdown this week. The Des Moines Register reported a “large, middle aged woman” hollered profanity and spat on the arm of the employee who turned down her free two-piece grilled chicken meal coupon on Tuesday. 

Oprah’s threw her unweildy star power behind KFC’s newest venture and the response overwhelmed both Oprah.com and Kentucky Fried Chicken, who couldn’t meet the demands of the salivating hordes. New York magazine chronicled the agony and the estacy of customers. Some felt discriminated against because they used Linux and couldn’t download the coupon (they’re people too, O), or are Canadian (no freebies for O Canada). Others pleaded that they needed the nearly unattainable free chicken to feed their children.

Drop in at KFC.com and you’ll understand the excitement. The website features happy chicken lovers two-fisting pieces of un-fried poultry while doing the “mix it in your bucket” dance. After redeeming millions of coupons, the company had to call a chicken hiatus and issued an apology and rain checks until chicken supply meets chicken demand.

OUR DEADLINE MATH PROBLEM

It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

The December 31 deadline is drawing nearer, and if we’re going to have any chance of making our goal, we need those of you who’ve never pitched in before to join the ranks of MoJo donors.

We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

payment methods

OUR DEADLINE MATH PROBLEM

It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

The December 31 deadline is drawing nearer, and if we’re going to have any chance of making our goal, we need those of you who’ve never pitched in before to join the ranks of MoJo donors.

We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate