Is Oprah's KFC Promotion Hypocritical?

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that bothers me. Oprah has the one of a kind media clout to bring attention to the cruelty that KFC's meat suppliers are ignoring for the almighty dollar. The particular issue of de feathering live, conscious animals in scalding water was the one point that turned the tide for me, and frankly, my stomach too. In truth, after investigating the Kentucky Fried Cruelty website (a bumper sticker brought the site to my attention) I from that point on have boycotted KFC. Damn shame too, I've loved the stuff since I was a kid. But the truth is, I'm not going to sit down to meal and know that my choice as a consumer is perpetuating,and paying for, a practice I perceive to be an ethics problem.
What I would hope is at this point, her formidable media organization "Does the right thing" and shines a light on the less savory issue of animal cruelty in the poultry industry. Indeed, going up against the large corporations is a bite the hand that feeds you arrangement, but convictions don't run in Flavor Of The Month. They are personal. We abide by them. One would think that KFC, knowing her stance (and the kind of sales generating capacity her organization controls) would bend over backward to insure all parties cruelty issues were acknowledged, addressed and documentation of the corrected practices would be waving like flags for all to see.
So you never know, at some point I may be able to sit down and enjoy a KFC dinner again because the big guns manifested change.
Stranger things have happened...

Stephen D. of NJ 10:44AM June 20, 2009

It took me more than thirty five minutes to finally squeeze in to the site and be able to print three coupons.(the program will let you print 3 coupons at one time and thats it) Now I still have them because the KFC store near me has a sign at the door that they will accept coupons only betwwen 10am to 12:00nn and 3:00PM to 5:00PM. Plus the long line at the counter. Is it worth it?
Now to add insult to injury you bring coupon and you have to wait for the real coupon/check to mail it to you. Now you gave up your personal information for measly US$3.99. Is their justice on it?

Tik B Lang of CA 1:52PM May 15, 2009

Peta wussed out. Hardly a peep out of them over this. Oh Oprah didn't know that KFC kills chickens by the billions, riiight! PETA loves even the lamest of celebs so it's not a surprise to me. I sent Oprah a letter that Alice Walker sent to the KFC CEO.
ALICE WALKER
Mothers’ Day
May 9, 2004
Dear Mr. Novak:
Suppose in a future life you come back as a chicken. You are small and fuzzy and scared.
You are soft. Beautiful. Yellow, with bright orange legs. Tiny feet. Innocent, deeply
curious eyes.
You are in a place that does not live up to you. It is dark and hot; there is no fresh air. It
stinks. As soon as you are born, part of your mouth, your tender beak, is burned off.
This indescribable pain is your introduction to life.
It will be a short life.
Each day “managed” by hands and machines you can barely glimpse and comprehend not
at all. You are in a cage with so many others! You feel your body, stuffed with food and
hormones, pressing against the bodies around you. It reminds you perhaps of the lifetime
ago when you were a human slave in a ship enduring the Middle Passage.
You feel heavy and hot, suffocating, because you are constantly drugged; your body forced
to grow so large and fast your bones cannot support it: they begin to break.
After an infinity of unbearable pain you are lifted out of the cage into which you
were born, and from which your mother was taken immediately after your birth, and
dumped, with thousands of others, into a vat of boiling water. Most of the others are dead,
but for some reason, you are not. You drown, choking, in the smelly, scalding water.
You have not had one moment in which to touch earth, to see the sky, to enjoy a worm;
you have had no chance to experience a mother’s love, to receive the rich comfort of
hearing a father’s cocky crow, or to feel the kind hand on your feathers of a caring human
being.
Your body, broken though it is, and smeared with the excrement that left it because you
were so afraid as you died, is plucked of its sickly covering of feathers, cut up, and sent to
the place where it will be covered with white flour and herbs, fried in hot fat, and presented
to human families who have no way of knowing they are eating – bringing into their own
bodies (and spirits) – the deep suffering, fear and misery of your largely unlived life.
I do not wish this for you. I do not wish it for myself. I do not wish it for the
thousands that eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).
We do not know what Life has in mind for us, or how many lifetimes we are going to
have. Understanding this, it is wise, I believe, to avoid acts of cruelty and violence and to
put our trust and effort into consideration of all “others” with whom we share the planet; as
we extend, uphold and honor all acts of universal kindness.
With an embrace
for you
& deep hopes for health
and happiness
to your
family.
In peace,
Alice Walker

Emily Copeland of WA 8:37PM May 13, 2009

Some 14 million Americans got the online coupon of Oprah's website, including me and a friend who took his mother out for what we thought would be a free lunch. A sign on the door said they were out of the free grilled chicken special, but that you could exchange the coupon for use at a later date by mailing in your voucher.
Think about it. 14 million Americans. How many chicken need to fed, raised, harvested before they can accomodate that kind of demand? Do you think its reasonable that KFC could do it in 1 weekend?
Simple problem, here folks: The demand outstripped the supply.
Ironically, we were able to still order the 2 piece grilled chicken and drink for $3.99. The chicken had a strange, chemical aftertaste--maybe all those chemical ingredients changing after they've been grilled. The chicken was pretty uneventful and I don't think I'll use the voucher to order more.
I remember as a kid going to Harland's KFC and the quality was much better than today--they were bought out by by a British Tobaco Conglomerate, then by PespsiCO and like all things in American that face the corporate chopping block to satifsy investors (as well as consumers insatiable demand for cheap food) the quality went down hill.
All the PETA complaints, Oprah's motives notwithsanding, Vote with your pocket book. And if someting is free, don't look a gift hose in the mouth. This was a simple matter of supply outstripping demand.

Jack Van Fossen of WA 5:01PM May 11, 2009

Oprah's KFC Stunt Promotes Swine Flu-Causing Factory Farms
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York
I was dismayed to hear that Oprah was helping to push KFC's free chicken promotion. Wasn't quite sure why, initially—after all, 'free food for everyone' is generally a pretty positive notion. But then I recalled that KFC buys its chicken from Tyson—one of the US's biggest factory farmers and perpetrator of shady health practices. And then I remembered that Oprah herself did an expose on the cruelty of factory farms , essentially condemning them. And then I realized that the ploy couldn't have come at a worse time: US factory farms have been confirmed to have played a role in the origin of swine flu.
It's long been known that factory farming, at the very least, presents animals with unseemly living situations—if not downright cruelty. It's also widely believed that the practice fosters the spread of disease in animals, and in some cases, humans. Case in point: the US Center for Disease Control has confirmed that the current swine flu (H1N1) has its origins in a strain that grew out of a factory farm in North Carolina years ago.
From HSUS:
"A preliminary analysis of the H1N1 swine flu virus isolated from human cases in California and Texas reveals that six of the eight viral gene segments arose from North American swine flu strains circulating since 1998, when a new strain was first identified on a factory farm in North Carolina."
So in effect, Oprah is publicizing a company that not only condones cruelty to animals, but relies upon an institution that's partly responsible for the development of serious diseases like swine and avian flu. I know that Oprah isn't specifically endorsing factory farming—and especially not swine flu—but by vocally supporting a massive company like KFC that's built on the practice (and a number of other un-green ones, for that matter) she validates it.

Roger Pelizzari of IA 11:44AM May 10, 2009

Oprah's KFC Stunt Promotes Swine Flu-Causing Factory Farms
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York
I was dismayed to hear that Oprah was helping to push KFC's free chicken promotion. Wasn't quite sure why, initially—after all, 'free food for everyone' is generally a pretty positive notion. But then I recalled that KFC buys its chicken from Tyson—one of the US's biggest factory farmers and perpetrator of shady health practices. And then I remembered that Oprah herself did an expose on the cruelty of factory farms , essentially condemning them. And then I realized that the ploy couldn't have come at a worse time: US factory farms have been confirmed to have played a role in the origin of swine flu.
It's long been known that factory farming, at the very least, presents animals with unseemly living situations—if not downright cruelty. It's also widely believed that the practice fosters the spread of disease in animals, and in some cases, humans. Case in point: the US Center for Disease Control has confirmed that the current swine flu (H1N1) has its origins in a strain that grew out of a factory farm in North Carolina years ago.
From HSUS:
A preliminary analysis of the H1N1 swine flu virus isolated from human cases in California and Texas reveals that six of the eight viral gene segments arose from North American swine flu strains circulating since 1998, when a new strain was first identified on a factory farm in North Carolina.
So in effect, Oprah is publicizing a company that not only condones cruelty to animals, but relies upon an institution that's partly responsible for the development of serious diseases like swine and avian flu. I know that Oprah isn't specifically endorsing factory farming—and especially not swine flu—but by vocally supporting a massive company like KFC that's built on the practice (and a number of other un-green ones, for that matter) she validates it.
Again, it definitely feels curmudgeonly to cry foul at the person who wants to give everyone free food—but it must be pointed out that the free food comes from inhumane, and potentially dangerous environments. And for someone who was PETA's 2008 Person of the Year, it's a little surprising the connection between KFC and factory farming was overlooked (or was ignored).
The point isn't that Oprah screwed up--it's that we should all be more aware of the practices that lead to the food on our table (or in the takeout window). Even though the swine flu turned out to be relatively mild and is now winding down, we should recognize the possibility that another pandemic could occur down the line if we don't note the causes--and work towards supporting a more sustainable, more humane manner of food production.

Cory Wilson of NY 11:37AM May 10, 2009

KFC’s own animal welfare advisors have asked the company to take steps to eliminate these abuses, but KFC refuses to do so. Many advisors have now resigned in frustration. http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com
KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can’t even walk, and often break their wings and legs. At slaughter, the birds’ throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water—often while they are still conscious. It would be illegal for KFC to abuse dogs, cats, pigs, or cows in these ways.
And worse, those sick chickens are cooked with MSG, a proven neuro-toxin and trans fats that kill your heart.
KFC ingredients: http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_
More info on MSG:
http://www.truthinlabeling.org

Roger Pelizzari of IA 11:29AM May 10, 2009

Oprah should marry the Colonel not in Kentucky, but have to be in Hell! But are those two places have any difference? Not at all, Kentucky is one of the world's biggest producers of tobacco. For those who have smoker relatives who were died of lung and other cancer will ceratinly agree with me. Other than Avian Flu, I am wondering whether chicken could kill too.

Jordan C. Fan, Prophet of Environment. 6:48PM May 09, 2009

The Ghost Of The Colonel.
I guess it was rather unwise for a Black woman to trust and cooperate with a Southern Plantation "Colonel" or his ghost wearing white suits!
Unless it is trap, it is equally unlikely for a Southern style colonel who may be a Confederate advocate to advertize in an African American Talk Show!

Jordan C. Fan, Prophet of Environment 4:42PM May 09, 2009

I guess it was rather unwise for a Black woman to trust and cooperate with a Southern Plantation "Colonel" or his ghost wearing white suits!
Unless it is trap, it is equal unlike for a Southern style colonel who may be a Conferate advocate to advertside in an frican American Talk Show!

Jordan C. Fan, Prophet 4:38PM May 09, 2009