false advertising; misleading ad; bucket of chicken not full; where's the chicken; fast food chain sued

Chicken Bucket Was Not Overflowing Claims Women

Hey, Colonel, Where’s the Chicken?

Today, most people know that what you see isn’t always what you get, and that there is a fine line between showing off your product and false advertising. Sometimes, the lines are blurred for some consumers, and when that happens, things can get messy. Quite often, it means someone is going to file a lawsuit, and that’s just what’s happening in New York after a widow decided to treat herself to some fried chicken from KFC. Of course, she didn’t get what she thought she would and it left her wondering where all the chicken was.

What Happened?

64-year-old Anna Wurtzburger lives on Social Security, which means that she lives on a very restricted budget each month. She doesn’t have a lot of money for frivolous things, or even eating out. However, everyone deserves a treat from time to time, and so she ordered a bucket of chicken and mashed potatoes from KFC after having seen an advertisement for it. The bucket of chicken in the advertisement was overflowing with chicken, and that’s what she thought she would be getting for her $20.

She says the advertisement said the bucket would feed the entire family, and she believed when she ordered that she would have enough chicken to feed her for several days. That would make the expenditure a little less painful on her budget. However, when she got home, she found that the bucket was only about half full, and the pieces were small. She claims that this is false advertising, since they show the bucket being full.

She contacted KFC’s headquarters, and was not pleased with the results. She explained her complaint to them, and they said that the reason the bucket looks full in the ads is so people can see the chicken. She responded by telling them if they want people to look at the chicken, they should “put it in a dish”. They told her that the menu specifically states that the chicken she purchased only comes with eight pieces of chicken.

However, they initially tried to make things right with her. They offered her $70 in coupons, and that might have been enough for some people. However, she could not be dissuaded from her course and says that it is the principle that matters. Therefore, she is suing KFC for $20,000,000 on the grounds of false advertisement. KFC says her suit does not have any merit at all.

It’s unclear who the judge will side with in this case. While the images of the buckets of chicken might show that it is overflowing, remember that the menu clearly states that it comes with eight pieces. Of course, Wurtzburger is also saying that the pieces of chicken provided were small and were not the same size as they are on the ads. Anyone who has ever seen an ad and then ordered fast food from an eatery knows that the image and the experience rarely match up. However, it’s unclear if it is considered false advertising.