KFC Sued Over Fraudulent 'Chicken' Giveaway
Company president tells AP “the critical thing for us was to get people to eat the chicken, whatever it took.” Lawsuit further claims that KFC adds beef fat to its new 'healthy chicken' offering.
kamberedelson.com - July 07, 2009
(PRNewsChannel) / Detroit, Mich. / A class action lawsuit filed today seeks to hold Kentucky Fried Chicken, owned by Yum Brands (NASDAQ:YUM), responsible for its botched chicken giveaway.
In May, KFC sought to promote its new grilled chicken by offering free meals to the public through the highly popular 'Oprah' show. However, according to the lawsuit, KFC subsequently sent out letters to its stores telling them not to honor the offer. News stories reported that the grilled chicken was available only to paying customers, but people seeking to redeem coupons were turned away or asked to provide personal information for a “raincheck” coupon.
The suit comes on the heels of a startling admission by KFC president Roger Eaton. Eaton was widely quoted as saying that despite the huge public outcry over KFC’s refusal to honor its coupons, the promotion has been incredibly lucrative: “There's no one in America right now who doesn't know we're selling grilled chicken.”
To add insult to injury, Eaton reportedly bragged to the Associated Press that “the critical thing for us was to get people to eat the chicken, whatever it took.” News stories reported that millions of people were turned away by KFC, at times leading to violence. In one instance, lawyers bringing the suit were told a bus load of 28 Californians were turned away after they traveled to KFC from an adult learning center.
“KFC’s reaction shows that it is not simply out of touch, it is mean-spirited,” explained Jay Edelson, a partner at KamberEdelson, LLC and one of the lawyers for the plaintiff, Kay Ready of Michigan. “People are sick and tired of this culture of corporate greed. Companies are going to learn fast that this is the wrong time in America’s history to try to take advantage of the little guy.”
The lawsuit further takes issue with KFC’s claim that its supposedly healthy grilled chicken is in fact chicken. The suit alleges that the product actually contains rendered beef fat and beef powder.
The lawyers say they have been contacted by people interested in starting a boycott of KFC, and its parent company Yum Brands, Inc. which also owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Long John Silvers.
To download a copy of the lawsuit, please visit https://prnewschannel.com/pdf/KFC_Complaint.pdf.
Edelson is joined on the suit by KamberEdelson attorney Michael McMorrow.
About Jay Edelson: Edelson (http://www.kamberedelson.com/Edelson.html) has a reputation for bringing, and winning, high profile class action lawsuits. Just last year, Edelson settled a nationwide case involving lead paint contamination with Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Wooden Railway children’s toys that was valued at over $30 million. Edelson’s firm also was lead counsel in the lawsuits coming out of the 2008 contaminated pet food recall, which resulted in a settlement of over $24 million. Edelson testified before the U.S. Senate in connection with that case.
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