Fast Food & Price Competition

KFC Unveils Another Free-Chicken Offer

KFC has cooked up another free offer to promote its grilled chicken, only this time, it promises, without the unwanted side of rainchecks. The freebie is set for Monday, when more than 5,000 KFCs will give every U.S. customer a free piece of grilled chicken. This will be the third time in six months that the chain famous for fried chicken is offering a giveaway to promote its Kentucky Grilled Chicken that debuted nationally last spring. KFC's latest freebie will be minus Oprah Winfrey's star power from a May giveaway and, KFC President Roger Eaton promises, without the snafus when a free grilled chicken coupon on Ms. Winfrey's Web site overwhelmed the chain, with some stores running out of the meals.

Conrad Lyon, a restaurant equity analyst with Global Hunter Securities, said the giveaways reflect a hyper-competitive fast-food sector where price is the biggest draw. "It comes down to getting those bodies in the door," he said. The newest offer is identical to KFC's first grilled chicken giveaway — a one-day-only offer in April when KFC handed out more than 4 million pieces to launch the product. KFC executives are pinning hopes on grilled chicken to build stronger U.S. sales by winning over health-conscious consumers turned off by the chain's fried offerings. Grilled chicken accounts for over 30% of KFC's domestic sales.

Americans in general love chicken, but black folks in particular will be all over this offer. Booker Rising hopes they're stocked up. In addition to the KFC-Oprah situation, we don't want a repeat of the hilarity that ensued back in April when Popeyes offered a "Pay Day" 8-piece special for $4.99. That half-price promotion was so popular that Negroes - blue-collar Negroes to corporate Negroes - were causing rush hour traffic problems, and yet Popeyes was woefully unprepared for its nationally advertised deal. That led to some angry Negroes LOL. Remember the sit-in that was held at one KFC location during that Oprah offer fiasco?

Avery Tooley: "Battle Of The $1 Burgers"

The moderate-conservative blogger in Maryland writes about burger wars among fast-food chains: "From the Chicago Tribune Personally, I tend to stay away from them joints. If I go to McD’s, chances are, I’m grabbin that Quarter Pounder. In the BK Lounge, it’s a Bacon Double Cheeseburger. Although to get down to it, I think I prefer Burger King’s burgers and McDonalds’ fries. When BK switched their fry recipe, it was inter[e]sting, but not necessarily enticing. It’s like something I have as a change of pace because I want a change of pace, not because it’s particularly good. I kinda miss the days when McDonalds and Burger King were always in walking distance from each other so I could get the good burgers and fries, even if I had to get them separately."