Atlantans getting burned up over Oprah’s KFC grilled chicken
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
If you’ve had problems downloading or redeeming Oprah-backed Kentucky Grilled Chicken coupons, you’re not alone.
Shalanda Hunter couldn’t redeem her printed coupons Wednesday at a local franchise because of an apparent mix-up that KFC officials now say has been addressed.
AP
A two-piece meal with the new Kentucky Grilled Chicken product is shown at a KFC location in Louisville, Ky. Coupons were available on Oprah.com for 24 hours beginning Tuesday after Oprah announced the meal promotion on her show.
Hunter took her printed coupons, part of an online promotion for the fast-food restaurant’s new grilled chicken, to a Locust Grove Kentucky Fried Chicken on Stanley K. Tanger Boulevard. There, Hunter was told the restaurant doesn’t accept black-and-white coupons.
“But not all of us have color printers,” Hunter said.
According to KFC Spokesman Rick Maynard, black-and-white printouts of the coupons are perfectly acceptable.
“Our field operations has been in touch with the personnel at the restaurants and reminded them that they need to redeem both black-and-white copies [and color copies],” Maynard said.
Arlene Johnson, of Ellenwood, took her black-and-white and color coupons to two locations with no luck. In one instance at a Bouldercrest Road location, she was told coupon serial numbers must end in “1234.” When she tried to redeem them at Wesley Chapel location, she was told the word “void” must be on top of the serial number.
“It just doesn’t coincide; if the [rules] were like that, it should have said that on both Web sites,” she said, referring to www.unthinkkfc.com and www.oprah.com. “Oprah’s name is too big to have these problems… A person of her caliber is doing a promotion for [KFC] and people can’t use them? When you go, you can’t eat.”
Wednesday afternoon, “Oprah KFC coupons” was the fifth most popular search on Google.com, and remained just outside the Top 10 searches by late evening.
Maynard said “millions” of coupons have been downloaded already; the online giveaway expires at midnight tonight.
“Thousands of coupons were redeemed today in the Atlanta area,” he said via e-mail. “There has been an overwhelming response to this offer — a credit to the popularity of Oprah Winfrey.”
Late Wednesday afternoon the Web site had temporarily shutdown due to high traffic. People with problems using or downloading coupons should call 1-800-225-5532.
Maynard wouldn’t disclose details of Oprah’s relationship with the historic chain other than saying she wanted to give Americans a free meal, while KFC was looking to promote its latest product.
“I’d say the response has been exactly what we expected, and we expected it to be great,” he said.
The coupons, which get you two pieces of grilled chicken, two sides and a biscuit, can be downloaded at www.unthinkkfc.com and www.oprah.com until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday night. They are redeemable through May 19, except on Mother’s Day — the restaurant’s busiest day of the year, Maynard said.
Check with your local restaurant first as not all KFCs are carrying the new product. However, it’s available in more than 95 percent of KFC’s roughly 5,200 locations, he said.
— Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this story.
