How NOT to Use YouTube: KFC Botches the Apology

It’s hard to imagine a promotion as poorly planned and executed as KFC’s Grilled Chicken fiasco.

sales advice: don't be too chicken to apologize when you screw up

Photo by Tony Campbell

If you’ve been living in a cave for the past week or so, here’s a quick review of the clusterpluck:

To promote their new Kentucky Grilled Chicken, KFC offered a downloadable coupon for a free meal. And had Oprah Winfrey announce it on her show. KFC was completely unprepared for the response — their computer servers couldn’t handle the crush of downloads, and their restaurant servers either couldn’t or wouldn’t honor all the coupons.

A day later, KFC announced that it would no longer honor the coupons. Instead, they instituted a truly cumbersome raincheck procedure. Customers were instructed to bring their coupons to a KFC store, where they would be required to fill out a form requesting a rain check — and wait for KFC to mail them their rain check. At which time they would have to make a second trip to KFC.

It might seem impossible for KFC to make the situation any worse, but they were up to the challenge. Here is KFC President Roger Eaton’s astonishing “apology” video:

[UPDATE: alas, after being buried in negative comments, KFC has taken the video down]

KFC was already in a hole before they released the video. From his unfortunate foreign accent to his smirky grin to his bizarre non sequitur (“Everyone wants to get the great taste of our new product, so we can’t redeem your free coupon at this time.”), Eaton just kept digging it deeper.

What has he learned from all this?

“Clearly, America loves the great taste of Kentucky Grilled Chicken!“

The take-away message: it’s not KFC’s fault — it’s America’s fault!

This one will be studied in marketing classes for decades to come.

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

LIKE THIS POST?

Sign up for my blog updates and never miss a post. I'll send you the first two chapters of my new book, Breakthrough Prospecting, as a thank-you.
Posted on
Categories: Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Media, Phil Bernstein, Social media, Youtube
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

Your Chance to Be Heard -- Comment Here!

6 thoughts on “How NOT to Use YouTube: KFC Botches the Apology”

  4. It’s not a cave, it’s a third world country. Actually, KFC is the only American fast food I’ve seen in Vietnam and the locals don’t seem to care about this marketing blunder.

    Reply
  5. Pingback: Yarn Harlot Outperforms KFC: What to Do When a Promotion Goes Wrong « Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog
  6. Pingback: Yarn Harlot Outperforms KFC: What to Do When a Promotion Goes Wrong | Phil Bernstein's Advertising, Marketing, and Sales Training Blog