Time to UNthink “Free”?

In the world of unintended consequences, KFC takes the prize with its Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal giveaway, unleashed this week with a word from Oprah Winfrey. To read a KFC spokesperson’s follow-up comments, one might infer that an angry consumer reaction was, well … UNthinkable. But was it? In developing the promotion, KFC seems to have left potential problems “UNthought”:

• The instant gratification problem. KFC apparently figured they could average out traffic with a coupon good for two weeks. But “I want it now,” is deeply ingrained in human nature. When the word went out to more than 7 million viewers of Oprah, fans practically sprinted to their PCs, immediately overloading both Oprah and KFC Web servers. Then they texted the news to non-Oprah-watching friends and Tweeted it to the rest of the world as they drove to the nearest KFC.

• The technology problem. Servers overload. Computers don’t all work the same way. Printers print differently from one to another. Coupon seekers reported myriad difficulties in accessing a Web site and printing a coupon. Some had to download special software, cited by one Web professional on a blog as evil “malware.” Others got caught in an endless loop as they tried to get to the coupon from Oprah’s Web site. Still more were told that they had printed their allotted number of coupons before they had even gotten one to print successfully.

• The fraud problem. Print quantities can be “gamed” via PDFs and screen captures. It can be hard to tell the difference between a black and white coupon produced by a printer and one produced by a copier. KFC laid itself open to unlimited fraud by making available a coupon that could be easily mass produced. While some customers reported that they were not allowed to print more than the designated four coupons, others reported printing (or copying) dozens.

Even after the official coupon-printing period had expired, I was easily able to track down a PDF online and print a coupon. Is it valid? I have no idea. There are dozens of conflicting online reports about coupon barcodes, with some sources reporting that there is only one — from the viral PDF I found, perhaps? — and others mentioning coupons with unique bar codes.

I could find no information on the KFC Web site specifying that my coupon must have a unique barcode. All I know is that I have an official-looking printout with a dot-scan barcode (as required in small print) and that my coupon has not been “photocopied, mechanically reproduced or altered” (as forbidden in small print). So why shouldn’t it be honored?

• The franchisee problem. Overwhelmed by the response to the giveaway, KFC franchisees scrambled to devise a workable plan for their restaurants. Some sought to limit giveaway hours to times when traffic was lower. Some designated a certain number of “promotional” meals and refused to honor coupons after they’d reached that number. Others — either misinformed or prevaricating — said that certain coupon bar codes were invalid (see above), or that coupons not printed in color would not be accepted.

The thing is that none of these caveats appears on the coupon. Most consumers have no clue about how franchising works and they couldn’t care less. They just know that the restaurant they’re in has a sign with Colonel Sanders’ face on it and that means their coupon should be accepted.

• The readership problem. The pieces of chicken to be included in the consumer’s free meal were specified in 4-point type as “managers choice.” That didn’t prevent irritation among consumers who wanted white meat, but got dark meat instead. Likewise, “while supplies last” was all but unreadable by anyone with less than 20/15 vision.

• The entitlement problem. When you tell people they’re getting something for free, something strange happens inside their heads. Suddenly, they assume it is owed to them. When they don’t get it (especially after having spent literally hours — as some did — trying to print a coupon), they get M-A-D, MAD. It does not matter to them that they’re not paying for their meal. They have invested time, energy and anticipation in a promise from KFC. And they expect a return on that.

• The time problem. When hundreds of customers converge on a QSR and demand service, the Q just falls right off, leaving customers to experience long and exasperating wait times. And this isn’t only happening to coupon-bearing customers who might be willing to accept a little inconvenience in exchange for a free meal. Regular, loyal, paying customers also become the victims of coupon chaos and their relationship with the franchise can be permanently damaged as a result.

• The blog problem. KFC has yet to apologize to customers for issues with the promotion and Oprah’s Harpo Productions has yet to even acknowledge them. Meanwhile, the ether is crackling with recriminations from thousands of commentators who have nothing good to say about either sponsor. Instead of praise, bloggers are posting unhappy personal experiences touching on every aspect of the giveaway, and reporting on angry throngs of disappointed customers at KFC locations. As a National Public Radio commentator dryly observed, you do not want “to spend the day after what should have been your moment of triumph clarifying that ‘there was no riot.’”


Clearly, KFC failed to give adequate critical thought to the particular difficulties that they and their franchisees might encounter in executing a meal giveaway promotion. The resulting damage to their brand caused by this thoughtlessness will not soon be repaired. As it turns out, the domain name of the franchise’s micro site, unthinkkfc.com, may be the only be part of this campaign that makes sense to customers.


Update (5/8/09):

If they couldn't save face, they could at least try to salvage profits ...

Working harder than he should've to sound happier than he ought to have been at finding himself in the midst of a PR debacle, KFC President Roger Eaton appeared yesterday in a video posted to YouTube and announced that the company was suspending its free meal coupon offer.

To quote the great Claude Raines, "I'm shocked. Shocked!"

With painfully forced enthusiasm, Eaton describes the "overwhelming response" to the promo and enthuses that "Clearly, America loves the great taste of Kentucky Grilled Chicken." Well, no, that's not clear at all. Clearly, America loves free stuff, but how can they know they love the taste of KGC if they can't redeem their coupons?

Eaton cheerfully goes on to explain that due to a level of response that KFC "never expected" (um ... why? They were offering people $20 worth of free food, for cripe's sake.) the company was forced to implement a new rain check procedure by which customers could request a replacement coupon in the mail.

Then, once again, KFC proceeds to bungle its communication.

"Please bring your coupon to a KFC restaurant or visit KFC.com and in exchange we'll send you a rain check for another time," Eaton promises.

The implication is that one may apply for a raincheck on the Web. Ix-nay on the Eb-way. The site directs visitors to take their coupon to KFC. So a trip to the store is mandatory. The bloggers are already grousing.

Additionally, Eaton consistently refers to "coupon" and "meal" in the singular case, though the original promotion offered four free meal coupons per person. So, can I send four coupons? If I do, will I receive four rain checks or just one? Is KFC just addicted to cliffhanger endings, or did they not anticipate this question?

One would hope that KFC might take away a few lessons from this week's free meal fiasco. Nope, apparently not. With its latest communication, the company now ensures that the bad taste its Kentucky Grilled Chicken promotion has left in consumers' mouths will linger for quite some time to come.