Adding to its list of celebrities on the KFC campaign, PETA announced on its website that Alice Walker will judge an anti-KFC poetry competition. It may be safe to say that the age of romanticism is now dead. Ms. Walker, the author of The Color Purple, recently sent a letter to David Novak, the CEO of Yum! Brands (KFC's parent), asking Mr. Novak to imagine himself as a chicken. A copy of Ms. Walker's poem "Mother's Day" is available here. Whether Mr. Novak actually imagines himself as a chicken, KFC continues to be plagued by this PETA campaign that has worked its way across the country. Billboards featuring Pamela Anderson in a lettuce bikini hang in a number of metropolitan areas. Richard Pryor has appeared in television commercials and Paul McCartney has taken out full-page ads in newspapers to draw attention to the issue. The effect so far on the franchisor or its operations is unclear; but YUM! Brands stock does not appear to be affected. The parent company stock closed at $39.27. For other articles on PETA's campaign, see blog entries from July 21, June 28, and February 20.
Posted by franchiselawblog at August 24, 2004 04:45 PM