America Has Overwhelming Response to Kentucky Grilled Chicken™ Offer; KFC Offers Apology and Rain Checks for Inconvenienced Customers

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following an unprecedented and overwhelming response to a free offer of a Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal, KFC has announced that it can no longer accept the free coupon at this time, but that it will introduce a rain check program to take care of inconvenienced customers.

“We would like to apologize to our customers who have been inconvenienced by the overwhelming response to our free Kentucky Grilled Chicken offer,” said Roger Eaton, President of KFC U.S. “The lines of customers wanting to redeem their coupons have been out the door and around the block, so we’re unable to redeem customer coupons at this time.”

The offer, which was featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show®” on Tuesday, May 5, resulted in millions of coupons being downloaded and lines of customers waiting outside KFC restaurants from coast to coast. While the Kentucky Grilled Chicken introduction was already the largest in KFC history, the overwhelming response of the free meal offer drove restaurant traffic to levels not seen in the brand’s 50-plus year history.

While millions of free meal coupons have already been redeemed over the past three days, customers holding a coupon will now be issued a rain check. Those customers may visit a participating KFC restaurant to receive a rain check form. They will then receive via mail a rain check coupon for the free two pieces of Kentucky Grilled Chicken (manager’s choice), two individual side items and a biscuit. The rain check coupon, which will be redeemable at a later date for a two week period, will also entitle the holder to a free Pepsi to go with the free meal, as a way of apologizing for the inconvenience.

All rain check requests must be accompanied by an original coupon and returned to a participating KFC restaurant or postmarked by May 19, 2009.

“We know that when people taste their free Kentucky Grilled Chicken, they’re going to love it,” Eaton added. “We apologize to those who have been inconvenienced, and we thank them for their understanding and patience.”

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Recession Relief: Leading Coupon Publisher Puts Coupons Online

/PRNewswire/ -- Clipper Magazine, the Pennsylvania-based publisher of local and regional coupon magazines that reach about 35 million shoppers in over 30 states, recently launched couponclipper.com, putting savings from local businesses nationwide at consumers' fingertips free-of-charge.

Couponclipper.com allows anyone with internet access to easily search for local businesses in a multitude of product and service categories. Visitors can locate anything from chimichangas to chimney sweeps across the nation, as well as coupons, directions, and even menus and website links.

COO and Co-founder Ian Ruzow comments, "Couponclipper.com evolved from myclipper.com, our original online service that allowed Clipper Magazine readers to access and print electronic versions of local coupons. The 250 thousand members of that site became the first members of couponclipper.com, but may be joined by anyone anywhere who surfs for savings." He notes that Clipper mails as Savvy Shopper in Georgia and Arizona and Rewards Magazine in Ohio, as well.

"It's an amazingly convenient and valuable free service for consumers and an outstanding opportunity for advertisers to increase exposure," he adds. Ruzow projects the site will feature 120 thousand local coupons or more by year's end.

Director of Product Development Sam Gorgone, who headed the group instrumental in developing couponclipper.com, explains, "We anticipate that couponclipper.com will become the new go-to site for consumers interested in saving money. In addition to business information and coupons, it offers news feeds and product and service reviews. It even allows users to create personalized savings pages that track their favorite businesses, coupons they access and locations they visit."

Of course the new service is being advertised in Clipper's magazines, but even those who don't receive the publications should easily stumble across it as a result of search engine optimization. Clipper's next steps include exploring the popular social media and mobile markets.

Ruzow asserts, "For 25 years Clipper's claim has been 'The Best Local Advertising in America. Period.' To maintain that claim, we now need to offer the best local online advertising, too. With couponclipper.com, we're doing that, plus providing the best local savings."

Since 1983, Clipper Magazine has grown from a local, four-page campus advertising publication to over 500 local editions in 31 states. Mailed seven times annually, it reaches roughly 35 million homes with full-color ads featuring money-saving offers.

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Top Consumer Product Brands Deliver Savings to Kroger Customers Throughout the Southeastern U.S. With Cellfire Mobile Coupons

PRNewswire/ -- Cellfire Inc., the only nationwide mobile coupon and discount offer service, today announced the availability of mobile grocery coupons in partnership with Kroger, the nations largest traditional grocer, and more than a half-dozen leading consumer product manufacturers. For the first time, consumers can achieve savings on individual grocery items using their mobile phone. The new capability is presently available to Kroger consumers in Georgia, South Carolina, Eastern Tennessee and Alabama, and includes savings on dozens of brands from leading consumer product manufacturers: Clorox, ConAgra, Del Monte, General Mills, Kimberly-Clark and Unilever.

"We're constantly seeking new innovations to provide our customers with more ways to save," said Glynn Jenkins, director of communications of the Atlanta Division of Kroger. "With Cellfire, the ability to access grocery coupons using their cell phone helps our customers to save both time and money, resulting in a satisfying shopping experience that truly delivers on our 'customer first' promise."

For consumers, mobile coupons eliminate time-consuming paper coupon clipping, the hassle of printing online coupons, and the inconvenience of having to remember to bring them to the store and use them at checkout. With mobile coupons consumers can discover savings wherever they may be: at home, at work or on the go.

To get started with the Cellfire mobile coupon service at Kroger, consumers register with Cellfire and link their Cellfire account to their Kroger Plus card. Consumers view coupons within Cellfire on their phone and the coupons they select to use are automatically loaded to their Kroger Plus card. Consumers simply shop, use their Kroger Plus card at checkout, and discounts on qualifying items are automatically applied. Once the coupon is used or it expires, it is automatically deleted from the consumer's phone and Kroger Plus card.

Advertisers have been slow to embrace online coupons due to fraud and security concerns, but with Cellfire mobile coupons, fraud and mal-redemption is less likely because redemption occurs digitally in a closed-loop. Advertisers also have complete control and can quickly present new coupons based on prior offer performance. They also gain unique shopper insight from aggregated redemption data that's not available via other coupon distribution channels allowing them to better serve consumers.

"Mobile couponing is a winning initiative for us. Cell phones are always with the consumer and association with the grocer savings card makes it simple and convenient," said Karl Schmidt, director of promotional marketing at General Mills. "Plus, mobile is an exciting new medium that extends our reach and influence to a younger generation of shoppers who are less inclined to clip coupons from newspapers, circulars, or direct mail."

As food and gas prices continue to rise and the economy experiences slow growth, more consumers are re-discovering the value of coupons. CMS, a leading coupon processing agent for grocery brands, reported that Americans redeemed 2.6 billion manufacturers' coupons in 2007, which is the first time in 16 years that coupon redemption remained constant instead of continuing it's year-over-year decline. Mobile coupons now make these savings even more accessible.

"By partnering with the number one traditional grocery chain in the U.S. and serving coupons from the top packaged goods manufacturers in the world, we're making it even easier for consumers to stretch their dollar during this period of economic uncertainty," said Brent Dusing, CEO of Cellfire. "At a time when consumers are most interested in saving with coupons, we're delivering a solution that literally provides savings in the palm of their hand through coupons on their mobile phone."

To enjoy the Cellfire savings at Kroger, consumers can visit Cellfire.com or they can send a text message with the keyword KROGER to 22888, to receive instructions on how to access the offers on their phone. New grocery offers will be available on Cellfire every two weeks.

Consumers access the Cellfire mobile coupon service through an easy to use mobile application that resides on their cell phone or through a mobile Web browser. New offers are added frequently, and users can access the Cellfire service at their convenience to discover and use discounts specific to their geographic area. Coupons are displayed in an organized manner, allowing consumers to navigate through coupons by category and select the offers they want to use. Cellfire is a free service, although standard data or usage charges may apply depending on the carrier or data plan.