Oprah Creates Unprecedented Demand For KFC

-Ashville, N.C. Let it be known from this day forward, that the power of Oprah is not to be underestimated. The queen of daytime announced earlier this week that coupons for a free KFC grilled chicken meal would be available on her website. The coupons were available for download until 11:59 p.m. on May 6. The announcement triggered heavy internet traffic which made it difficult to download the coupons. There are reports that it took some viewers three to four hours to get the coupons to print.

In Macon, Georgia, where in 2007 the city was named the location of Oprah’s most loyal viewers, had record turnout for the promotion. It was reported that by noon restaurants in the Macon and Warner Robbins area had all served more than 500 meals per store. A KFC manager that has worked for the chain for 29 years said, “It’s not busy here, it’s a blowout.”

But that’s only half the story, KFC’s across the country were caught off guard by the crowds of people trying to redeem coupons. Some stores called in additional help while some turned customers away after running out of supplies. In New York City there were unconfirmed reports that customers staged a protest over not being able to redeem their coupons. The company has denied those reports, only to say that customers were upset. In Greensboro, N.C., traffic was so congested by motorists trying to get to a KFC that police had to block streets and deny access to the restaurant because the lines of cars created a safety hazard.

A KFC spokeswoman said that there has never been this kind of demand for a KFC promotion in the chain’s 50 year history. Because of the delays and unexpected crowds, the company will be issuing rain checks to people with coupons. KFC wants its customers to have a positive experience eating their new grilled chicken. It’s KFC’s hope that grilled chicken, will attract customers that don’t usually eat at thier restaurant. They have even created an entire campaign with that theme, “Unthink what you know about KFC.” The website they created for the promotion is unthinkfc.com. KFC may indeed benefit more than they ever expected from the enormous turnout for free chicken. The chain has been struggling with sales in recent years amid controversies regarding unhealthy food, cruelty to animals and it’s rebranding to downplay the “fried” in its name. The move to align itself with Oprah means new customers and a success in offering a healthy alternative to its trademark fried chicken.

I’m sure corporations are taking note of the “Oprah Effect.” It’s pretty much a sure thing that anything promoted or endorsed by Oprah, will be an instant hit. From books, music and politicians, Oprah’s word seems to be gold. After all she did pick our nation's President.

CBS Turns The Lights Out On The Guiding Light

The longest running soap opera in televison and radio history was put on the chopping black last week by CBS. The Guiding Light started out as a 15 minute program on the radio 72 years ago. In the 60's it made the leap to television as a 30 minute live serial eventually going to an hour broadcast.

Rumors have been swarming for years that another popular soap would get the ax, many speculated that NBC’s Days Of Our Lives would be the next soap to fall. In the last 15 years NBC has nearly eliminated all of its daytime soap operas. In the 90's it did away with "Generations ", "Santa Barbara", "Another World" and the Aaron Spelling production "Sunset Beach". Days Of Our Lives is the only NBC soap still on the air. Daytime televison is currently feeling the economic pinch, it has been for years now. Shows are tightening it budgets just to remain on the air. Just last month Jess Walton walked off the "Young And The Restless" set over a proposed pay cut. "Y&R" is the number one soap on the air for 16 years running, If they are cutting salaries imagine what the other shows are doing to stay afloat.

At the end of the day, the soaps that are loved by many and have been a staple on televison as long as televison has been around, is just a business. And like any business it has to make money for it’s owners. Declining ratings over the years as viewers mostly housewives either lost interest after two writers strikes or moving into the workforce, has forced significant cuts in daytime programming. My fear is that the soaps will go the way of the radio serials, a thing of the past.

Soaps have always been apart of our pop culture. The theme song from the "Young And The Restless", is famous the world over. Susan Lucci is a celebrity because she’s a soap star. Many of today’s biggest celebs got their start in Daytime TV, "CSI: NY’s" Melina Kanakaredes, "Heros" Hayden Panettiere, movie stars Rachel Miner, Brittany Snow and Kevin Bacon all got their start on "The Guiding Light". It’s a shame that a show with such a rich history is coming to an end. Even though I understand the reasons CBS is pulling the plug, still I feel like the networks are not in touch with what the viewers want. They pull shows off the air, leaving the audience hanging. It took a massive letter writing campaign to convince CBS to bring "Jericho" back on air only to see it cancelled again. When NBC canceled "Passions" they tried to move it to Dish Network but it was just prolonging the inevitable. In the end the nets only care about dollar signs and not what the viewers really want. They wouldn’t hesitate pulling a show or changing its time slot in favor of something they think will attract the preferred demographic. If only we the viewer could launch an effective protest to get our point across, a couple of million dollars in lost revenue would get their attention.... wouldn’t that be something?

The President Signs Economic Recovery Plan Into Law

This week President Barack Obama signed his $780 Billion economic stimulus bill into law at a Denver, Colorado event. The President warned of hard times ahead as he signed the bill. The bill is supposed to be designed to help the country get out of this recession. The bill is intended to help with the massive amount of foreclosures across the country, create over 3.5 million jobs, create tax cuts for millions of low to middle income households, provide $150 billion for infrastructure repair projects for roads, water systems and dams and $10.5 billion towards healthcare.

It looks as if the Presidential honeymoon is over and things are back to business as usual in Washington. The President extended more than one olive branch to the republicans in an effort to get some kind of substantial economic relief package to help turn the economy around. All but three republicans in the U.S. House voted against the bill, citing that Democrats locked them out of the process. No one in the House of Representatives have clean hands in this recent skirmish. The Democrats have been heavy handed and uncompromising in drafting this bill. The very nature of politics involves compromising with the opposite party for the benefit of the people they represent. I think most people understand that everyone can’t get what they want, but when a bill this important comes up our representatives are suppose to put their differences aside and help the country.

Both parties have to find a way to work together, it’s essential. There is very little room for mistakes as we go forward. One needs only to look as what happened to Japan in the early 90’s. It’s only recently that Japan has leveled out of its recession. They made many mistakes including waiting too long to take action to correct the downturn of their economy.

I’ve been thinking about we got into this mess and it doesn’t make anyone look good. We bought our lattes at Starbucks everyday, we had to have our I-pods and Sony flat screen TV’s, and we bought more foreign cars than domestic. Looking at it differently American car companies haven’t been producing autos comparable or better than imports; banks gave out bad loans and enriched their executives as a reward. So if the mortgage crisis helped pull us down, but there are far too many other things we did to reach this point. Now is the time to act, we can’t afford to wait any longer. We have already waited too long as it is.

Barack Obama Becomes The 44th President Of The United States

Just a few minutes past noon, President-Elect Barack Obama took the oath of office to become the 44th President Of The United States Of America.

Barack Hussein Obama was sworn into office by Chief Justice of The United State John Roberts. During the oath, the Chief Justice made a gaff in the wording of the oath. It was awkward for a moment, but the wording was easily corrected and Barack Obama in front of millions of people in attendance took the oath and became the 44th President of The United States of America.

Watching the ceremony on television you couldn’t help but see the hope, happiness and joy in the people watching from the National mall. Tears of joy, smiles and an immense sense of pride were just some of expressions that were obvious on the faces of people attending the inauguration. I find it fascinating that on the very steps that were built on the back of slaves hundreds of years ago, now a black man would become President. It took generations of black people being enslaved, beaten, killed and oppressed before this nation would elect a man of color as President, not because of the color of his skin but for his character and intellect. It’s a partial fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream. Most civil rights leaders agree that we; as a nation still have lots of work before we truly reach Dr. King’s dream

I only wish that my relatives that lived during the times of segregation and the struggle for civil rights for black people could have been here to witness Barack Obama become President. As the ceremonies on television broadcast I can’t help but think of all those that came before, those that fought for the right to vote, fought for desegregation in schools, those that died so that we could reach this moment in history. I’ve heard news anchors on almost every network ask their black guests, “What you think Dr. Martin Luther King would say about today’s inauguration.” Many people give a similar answer by saying that he would think it was great but there is more work to be done. I think he would probably say something simple like “Well its about time.”

President Obama will hit the ground running. It’s expected that the majority of his cabinet will be confirmed no later than the end of the week. Not a moment too soon, the financial crisis continues to get worst as new set of mortgages are scheduled to reset, banks are having to write down more bad loans because of the increase in unemployment causing many to default on credit cards debts. The President has lots of problems to deal with and so little time in which to do so. The clock has already started on what President Obama and his administration can do fix Americas problems.

Circuit City Announces It's Going Out Of Business

Circuit City, the nation's second largest electronics retailer announced on Friday, January 16, 2009 that it will be closing all of its 567 stores. Circuit City recently filed for bankruptcy and was looking to sell the company or try to refinance its debt. According to media reports, negotiations went south with a potential buyer, forcing the company to close its doors.

Circuit City's web site wasn't available for shopping today, instead there was a full page explaining the company's current circumstances.

"Circuit City would like to thank all of the customers who have shopped with us over the past 60 years. Unfortunately, we announced on January 16, 2009, that we are going out of business."

It goes on to say:

"Due to challenges to our business and the continued bleak economic environment, Circuit City is going out of business and the company's assets will be liquidated to pay off creditors."
"The process was extremely difficult and we were left with no other choice but to liquidate. Circuit City had a proud heritage of serving the public for 60 years and we deeply regret the impact this decision will have on our associates, our customers and the communities where we have operated stores and other facilities."

It's is very sad to hear that more than 30,000 people are about to lose their jobs. Times are hard, harder than they have ever been during my lifetime. Again, I fault the company's management for part of its downfall. Circuit City in my opinion did not make customer service and satisfaction a top priority. That may have been their biggest mistake, allowing stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart to sneak up and steal not only their customers but the market itself.