Abstract

This short case study describes the botched promotional campaign where Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) offered coupons which promised a free ‘Kentucky Grilled Chicken’ meal through The Oprah Winfrey Show, the popular talk show. The case describes how the overwhelming response to the offer resulted in KFC being unable to honor the coupons at many outlets, leading to angry complaints from customers, and negative publicity in the media.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Planning a promotional campaign
• Crisis management
• and Building effective public relations.

Keywords

KFC, Oprah Winfrey, crisis management, KFC coupons, promotions