KFC sued over May grilled chicken giveaway
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KFC Corp. and some of its customers are embroiled in a beef over a free meal that never came to be.
In May, the fast food chain promoted a giveaway of two pieces of grilled chicken, two individual sides and a biscuit on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ Within days, demand was so high that the company had to scale back the offer, asking customers who had printed the online coupons to visit stores for an IOU voucher that also included a free Pepsi drink.
But James Asanuma and Veronica Mora were feeling so peckish that they filed suit against KFC and its parent company, Yum Brands Inc., in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday and are seeking class action status.
The complaint accuses KFC of false advertising, fraud and unfair business practices, among other allegations. The company, according to the filing, used the promotion to pluck money from customers who hadn’t intended to spend any.
KFC should have made more of an effort to personally inform people who had downloaded the coupons, according to the complaint. Customers who missed out on the free meal had spent money on travel, paper and printing to find out, and then wasted more on postage for a mail-in rain check.
KFC representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment.
KFC spokesman Rick Maynard said 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.”
According to the complaint, Asanuma of Northridge used a color printer and paper to print out four coupons, which required him to download and install a special computer program.
Mora of Sylmar did the same. Her daughters, according to the complaint, were excited at the prospect of KFC for dinner. But when the group arrived at a KFC in San Fernando, they were told that they were too late for the giveaway because the restaurant had doled out its quota of 100 free meals a day.
They drove to a KFC in Sylmar, where they were told the same thing, even though the restaurant was still selling grilled chicken, sides and biscuits, according to the complaint. When a store employee suggested that Mora return the next morning, she informed him that “she, and her children, do not eat chicken for breakfast.”
The complaint asks for “full restitution of monies acquired” through the promotion, as well as an injunction prohibiting what the suit called “bait and switch” practices and a declaration that KFC’s tactics were unfair.
-- Tiffany Hsu
