May 27, 2009

Oprah’s Kentucky Fried Throwdown

Image courtesy of Creative Commons user Pengrin

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Oprah’s free chicken coupon led to a Kentucky Fried throwdown this week. The Des Moines Register reported a “large, middle aged woman” hollered profanity and spat on the arm of the employee who turned down her free two-piece grilled chicken meal coupon on Tuesday. 

Oprah’s threw her unweildy star power behind KFC’s newest venture and the response overwhelmed both Oprah.com and Kentucky Fried Chicken, who couldn’t meet the demands of the salivating hordes. New York magazine chronicled the agony and the estacy of customers. Some felt discriminated against because they used Linux and couldn’t download the coupon (they’re people too, O), or are Canadian (no freebies for O Canada). Others pleaded that they needed the nearly unattainable free chicken to feed their children.

Drop in at KFC.com and you’ll understand the excitement. The website features happy chicken lovers two-fisting pieces of un-fried poultry while doing the “mix it in your bucket” dance. After redeeming millions of coupons, the company had to call a chicken hiatus and issued an apology and rain checks until chicken supply meets chicken demand.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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