Discussion: Rival Chicken Chain Calls Out KFC
El Pollo Loco, a chain of 418 grilled-chicken restaurants concentrated in the Southwest, is trying to scare up a chicken fight with industry giant KFC.
Soon after KFC rolled out its first grilled-chicken offering on April 14 -- the biggest new-product launch in KFC's history -- Steve Carley, chief executive of El Pollo Loco, appeared in commercials challenging KFC to a taste test and set up an 800 number for KFC to call to arrange a showdown.
KFC, which has 11,000 restaurants world-wide, isn't ruffled by its rival's challenge. "We're certainly more focused on Kentucky grilled chicken than on any advertising or online efforts of competitors," KFC spokesman Rick Maynard said.
But when calls came in to the taste-test hot line from people claiming to favor KFC's grilled chicken, El Pollo Loco says its caller ID showed some calls originated from the headquarters of Yum Brands Inc., KFC's parent company in Louisville, Ky.
KFC says it is looking into the charge. "We've been grilling our employees to see if anyone's done any undercover dialing," Mr. Maynard said, adding that "it hasn't been a high priority."
To Mr. Carley, it was a gift from the chicken gods. El Pollo Loco, of Costa Mesa, Calif., promptly posted a video on YouTube with a sarcastic voice-over saying the calls came from KFC.
"We've known KFC would come out with grilled chicken for a long time, and we've been working on a complete strategy to protect our equity as the flame-grilled chicken leader," Mr. Carley said. "In the process, several unbelievably spectacular opportunities have presented themselves to have even more fun than we planned on."
On Tuesday, Oprah Winfrey announced on her show that people could download coupons from her Web site for a free KFC meal. When El Pollo Loco discovered that the coupons were good through May 19 -- with the exception of Mother's Day -- the chain again got to work.
El Pollo Loco posted another video on YouTube, titled "What does KFC have against Moms?" and offered to honor its competitor's coupons on Mother's Day.
Mr. Maynard said KFC won't honor free-meal coupons on May 10 because Mother's Day is its busiest day of the year.
Jargon, Julie. "Corporate News: Rival Chicken Chain Calls Out KFC." 9 May 2009. The Wall Street Journal. 18 June 2014.
Your Task: Assume you work for KFC, and you are convinced that your new grilled chicken tastes great. In fact, you think that its blend of secret spices makes it far superior to El Pollo Loco's citrus-marinated grilled chicken. One of your KFC coworkers feels the same way and urges you to join him and other KFC employees in calling the El Pollo Loco 800 number to register your preference. You didn't hear about any restrictions regarding who could enter the taste test. Should you call? Apply the tools for doing the right thing that you studied in Chapter 1. You need to defend your position in the discussion thread.