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Lawsuit filed against KFC for Oprah giveaway gone astray

June 23, 9:57 PMOprah ExaminerCindy Tickle
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AP Photo/KFC, Brian Bohannon

A lawsuit was filed last week against KFC for the Oprah giveaway that went astray. Two customers seek class-action status for the suit they filed after being denied their free grilled chicken meal.

During last month’s Oprah Show, “Brand New Harpo Hook-ups”, Oprah hooked up America with a free two-piece Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal including two sides and a biscuit. All you needed to do was visit oprah.com and download your coupon. Easy enough…at least, that’s what everyone thought.

Unfortunately, KFC underestimated the power of Oprah or what’s become known as “The Oprah Effect”. Anytime anything is mentioned on the Oprah Show, it sells out in minutes. But this wasn’t something to be purchased, it was a free meal! Hundreds of people were standing in line around the country for their free chicken, and eventually, they were turned away because KFC ran out. The company discontinued the coupons and asked customers to mail in a form for a rain check that included a free Pepsi.

Well, that didn’t sit too well with James Asanuma and Veronica Mora. Instead of filing for the KFC IOU, they decided to file a lawsuit against KFC and its parent company, Yum Brands Inc., in a Los Angeles County Superior Court on June 17. They accuse KFC of false advertising, fraud and unfair business practices among other things.

KFC spokesman, Rick Maynard told the LA Times that he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit. But he said,

We apologize to any customers who were inconvenienced, and we remain committed to providing a free Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal plus a medium soft drink to those who submitted valid coupons for replacement coupons.”

The suit claims customers who missed out on the free meal spent money on travel, paper, printing and then more on postage for the mail in rain check. The complaint asks for “full restitution of monies acquired” in the promotion, as well as an injunctions prohibiting what the suit called “bait and switch” practices.

So it looks like KFC learned a lesson the hard way…“there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

What do you think? Would you join a class-action suit against KFC?

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