KFC: We do Chickens Wrong!

[Woochifer]

I've read PETA's allegations as well. As much as I support the goal of ethically treating animals, even those that we will eventually meet for the first time at the receiving end of a carving knife or frying pan, I think that PETA as an organization tends to engage in a lot of sensationalism and take aim at high profile targets in order to promote itself. (At one point, they were telling people to boycott Wheaties because a bass fisherman was featured on the box cover, and in their view that meant that Wheaties was glorifying cruelty to animals.)

KFC's got a huge bullseye by virtue of their ubiquity, but they're not the ones who are farming the chickens and raising them in deplorable conditions. PETA happened to get a hidden camera into one of the supplier company's facilities. But, how do you know that this is something that's isolated to KFC's suppliers? What I know of chicken processing, there are all kinds of common practices that would make most of us puke if we saw it first hand.

So, if you boycotted KFC, what does that amount to in the end? Are you then going to go to the grocery store and buy chickens that might have been raised under identical conditions? The only way that you can know for sure that you're eating "ethically" treated chickens is to buy organic and "range fed" chickens from a grocery store. For all of the different processed food offerings, a lot of them tend to share suppliers. If these objectionable practices are happening with chickens supplied to KFC, I would guess that these abused chickens are getting supplied to other vendors as well. So, even if you boycott KFC, how do you know that whatever other chicken products you divert your spending towards don't have similar practices?

If PETA really wants to do something, why not take aim at the chicken processing industry in general, or the supplier companies in particular? By targeting KFC specifically, they are really after publicity for themselves since they know that they can raise their own profile by going after the biggest target.

If PETA was really about ethical treatment of bass, why did they start a Wheaties boycott? Why not take aim at the sportsman's associations that support and sponsor the activity? Because they know that Wheaties is the more well known target, and taking aim at it guarantees publicity.

[dean_martin]

If PETA was really about ethical treatment of bass, why did they start a Wheaties boycott? Why not take aim at the sportsman's associations that support and sponsor the activity? Because they know that Wheaties is the more well known target, and taking aim at it guarantees publicity.

Hey Wooch!

I agree with you in general regarding high-profile targets for publicity, but at the same time I'm trying to imagine the effectiveness of a PETA-led boycott of Bass Pro Shops or BassMasters and I just don't think the people associated with those entities would give a damn. I don't think a PETA protester would last 2 seconds at a bass tournament or in a Bass Pro Shop! I know a little about these folks because where I live, if you don't have a bass boat, you ain't sh*t.

[BillB]

Anyone ever seen the pictures of the little Chinese kids in sweatshops making NAD electronics??

Just kidding but really, where does it end. If we all were to boycott things not made "the right way" we'd be paying out the arse or simply wouldn't have them to buy at all.

That's not to say KFC's wrong but unfortunately I think 99% of the general public could give a crap.

Bill

[Woochifer]

Anyone ever seen the pictures of the little Chinese kids in sweatshops making NAD electronics??

Just kidding but really, where does it end. If we all were to boycott things not made "the right way" we'd be paying out the arse or simply wouldn't have them to buy at all.

That's not to say KFC's wrong but unfortunately I think 99% of the general public could give a crap.

Bill

Well, that's part of the difficulty of these consumer boycotts. There are plenty of companies out there that directly or indirectly support an activity that we are individually not cool with. If you got a bank account, do you really know where your bank's investment portfolio goes? If you buy food from a neighborhood grocery store, how do you know whether or not their office supplies come from a third world sweatshop?

What it boils down to for me is focusing on the things that mean the most to me in choosing which companies I give my money to. My problems with PETA are that they've cried wolf so many times already, targeted companies that are sometimes only tangentally involved in the cruelty that they allege, and their history of sensationalism and camera-ready publicity stunts detracts from their credibility in my view.

I've got my own list of companies that I don't do business with, and those are for my own reasons. I don't go trumpeting all of the companies that I avoid giving money to because different people might have different priorities than the ones that I focus on. One person might focus solely on labor practices, while others might not be down with companies with holdings in gaming or alcohol or tobacco, or ties to the nuclear industry, or product testing involving animals, or unsound environmental practices, or just annoying advertisements, etc.

Generally, I focus on what the companies' actual practices are, rather than anything that their suppliers might be doing. One boycott I've supported for the last 23 years has been the Nestle boycott. I support it because the focus has been on the company's third world infant formula marketing practices, which were directly sanctioned by the corporate hierarchy, and verified and condemned by UNESCO. The boycott has been effective because it targets the entire company's family of products, and holds the entire company responsible for the unethical practices of one subsidiary. (not only Nestle labeled products, but their other subsidiaries as well including Stouffer's, Carnation, Arrowhead/Black Mountain, Purina, etc.)

If PETA is really about changing industry practices rather than chasing publicity, they need to target everything down the chain. Start with the suppliers and all of the brands that use their products, and then target the entire family of restaurants that Yum Brands owns -- KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's, A&W drive-ins, etc. Are they trying to effectively bring change to an industry, or are they more after the headlines?

[BillB]

I boycott Hewlett Packard because the relocated my family (due to my dad working there) knowing they were going to lay him off in the next three months and outsource his entire department. What a crap move. Now they're expected to lay off another 5,000-25,000 people...

Bill

[MomurdA]

I also boycott hewlett packard. Not for personal reasons but because they build the worst personal computers i have ever seen. Everytime a customer calls me saying there comp is messed up, i ask what kind it is. Id say at least half the time they say 'hp' and then i just sigh. sorry thats kind of off topic Their printers have many issues as well, and im sure they contribute to the cruelty to farm animals indirectly, somehow.

[RGA]

Actually i think Peta is going after the place people know. people don't know XYZ chicken farm but they DO KNOW KFC!. The only people able to put any REAL pressure on chicken farms is the company who is the number one buyer ion the US of chickens. You put the pressure on the retailer who then puts the pressure on the chicken farm. It's easier for average Joe to get on side when average Joe has a TARGET.

Seems to have worked for George W. Bush -- give them a target even if it's the wrong one.

I think any kind of outfit like Peta is going to have to "market" and go for the emotion ploy. They can't go to the intelligent viewer because to put it bluntly they are in the vast minority of North Americans and even some of the smarties are apathetic unless you club them over the head in shmaltzy guilt trips.

My friend worked as a clean-up person at a chicken plant -- they called it a plant - and after 6 months they offerred him a management position which he declined. He gags just looking at chicken.

No question there are others buying chickens from the same plants. Peta is simply going after the buiggest two buyers KFC and McDonalds. No point in going after some small time outfit because the chicken farm could easily ignore them...But I don;t know if they could ignore KFC and McDonalds.

McDonalds has been pressured into change in the past by their customers...I don;t see why KFC as a customer to their supplier can't put the pressure on. These places actually hold more power because they can't replace KFC. If everyone in the world completely did not go to a single KFC on the planet for an entire month -- either KFC goes under or by second day the chicken plant is completely changed.

It's bad enough the hormones are disasterous on human health and the heart clogging quality of their food but on top of that they knowingly support companies who are cruel to animals. It's just so evil -- and people are worried about some terrorists -- man who sticks up for the chickens. Hmm maybe it's because I saw Chicken Run not long ago.

Free Range purchasing is what I try to do on any meat purchase. yes it's more expensive which means I get an OTO instead of a Soro -- but I can live with that better than the lame excuse that my grocery buill is an extra 10% I'm healthier for it too.

[FLZapped]

I've read PETA's allegations as well. As much as I support the goal of ethically treating animals, even those that we will eventually meet for the first time at the receiving end of a carving knife or frying pan, I think that PETA as an organization tends to engage in a lot of sensationalism and take aim at high profile targets in order to promote itself. (At one point, they were telling people to boycott Wheaties because a bass fisherman was featured on the box cover, and in their view that meant that Wheaties was glorifying cruelty to animals.)

If PETA was really about ethical treatment of bass, why did they start a Wheaties boycott? Why not take aim at the sportsman's associations that support and sponsor the activity? Because they know that Wheaties is the more well known target, and taking aim at it guarantees publicity.

I find it rather ironic that an organization that supposedly seeks the protection of animals against unecessary violence will resort to acts of violence against people and privately held property. Especially when those prople are not breaking any law in the first place.

They get a zero in credibility for being hippocrits in my book.

-Bruce