Oprah Pimps KFC After Running Special on ‘Dark Side’ of Chicken Factory Farming
May 7, 2009
Barely six months after running a special about the ‘dark side of chicken factory farming’, Oprah has teamed with KFC to give a free two-piece grilled chicken meal to every family in America. Lucky us. The free meal coupons were offered at Oprah.com yesterday.
The October 2008 show focused on contrasting the practices at conventional factory farms with those at organic, free-range farms – and earned her PETA’s 2008 ‘Person of the Year’.
From Ecorazzi:
Obviously, this is going to come as a shock to PETA — who is in the middle of a renewed campaign urging KFC to change the way its suppliers treat their chickens. Famous folks like Pamela Anderson, Sir Paul McCartney, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Rev. Al Sharpton, and countless others have signed on to boycott KFC.
Some will argue that this is a free meal — and in a time of economic hell, any food is good food. It just bothers me that with everything Oprah has done to bring attention to the plight of chickens and animals in factory farms, that she would approach a chain like KFC to give people a free meal. Why not give something relatively healthy like a free salad instead?
So, how does Oprah reconcile using her enormous powers of influence over the American people to educate them about the realities of dirty, inhumane practices at factory farming, and then turning around and supporting those same practices?
As we’ve said many times here, whether you love PETA or hate them, they’ve got some good points, and KFC’s disgusting treatment of chickens is definitely among them. Oprah, who has focused shows so many times on health and wellness, shouldn’t be using her celebrity to endorse such a company.
Unsurprisingly, the offer prompted hordes of crazy Oprah fans to descend upon KFCs all over the country demanding their free meal, causing what Gawker half-jokingly referred to as ‘racial violence’. Says a Gawker tipster,
I went over to our nearest KFC a few minutes ago (this was around 42nd and Park) and chaos ensued. Despite the very visible grilled chicken behind the register, the manager told everyone with coupons to leave and that the promotion was over for the day. The people there are currently holding a sit-in and refusing to leave until they get their free chicken…or the cops are called. Racial epithets were being spewed, people who actually wanted to pay for chicken were facing a potential beatdown, and the manager ran from the screaming horde. Oprah, what have ye wrought?
The power of Oprah is truly a frightening thing.
Link [Ecorazzi]
Can the Power of Oprah Stop Mountaintop Removal Mining?
March 13, 2009
Oprah Winfrey has what some people might call a grotesque amount of influence over Americans – particularly women of a certain age. She says she likes something on her show, and hours later it’s sold out. She goes on a certain diet, and millions of people across the country do the same. So, now that actress and activist Ashley Judd let it slip that Oprah might use her crazy-gigantic star power to help stop mountaintop removal mining, we’ve got to wonder: how much good could she do for the cause?
From Ecorazzi, via The Huffington Post:
On this afternoon’s live Q & A over on the DailyKos, the actress let slip that Oprah has potentially expressed some interest in a piece on the topic. In addition, Judd is also trying to get ABC’s Diane Sawyer to do a special with her. “You can absolutely help raise visibility of this issue,” she said in the Q & A. “Diane Sawyer’s piece on the children in hollows aired to much national conversation recently. I phoned her producer about a MTRCM piece. Contact ABC and let them know you want to see her do segment with me about it! Also, there is a possibility Oprah is interested in a piece. I have also spoken with Anderson Cooper about it; if they public wants stories on it, they are more incentivized to do them.”
Here’s a video from ilovemountains.org that will give you an inkling of just how destructive mountaintop removal mining really is:
Who knows. While Oprah’s legion of followers pretty much blindly follow whatever she tells them to do, and take on her beliefs as their own, mountaintop removal isn’t exactly as exciting as, say, getting a free car or cashmere scarf. But, it would raise awareness of the issue and possibly get more people involved with organizations like the Sierra Club, and that would be a huge, much-needed boost in itself.
Link [The Huffington Post] + [Ecorazzi]
Photo credit: OVEC
Will Oprah’s Endorsement Help Kindle E-Reader?
October 29, 2008
Traditionally, anything Oprah touches turns to gold. Get your product into her ‘favorite things’, or even mentioned in passing on her show, and you’re in for a tsunami of sales. So, the makers of electronic reading device Kindle are undoubtedly salivating with the sales prospects after she recommended their product last week and offered a special $50 discount with the promotional code “OPRAHWINFREY”.
From Eco Geek:
But can Oprah do for the Kindle what she’s done for her book club selections? Even with the promotional discount, the gadget costs more than $300 and the e-reader has had a tough time catching on. The environmental benefits are obvious, but it’s hard to justify the purchase when checking out books from the library is also an eco-friendly choice. And that’s free. Plus there’s the fact that most people are holding their dollars pretty close right now. All this could equal a moderate increase in sales, but not an overwhelming response.
That does seem awfully expensive, but as Hank Green mentions in his overview of the Kindle, it’s a virtual pocket library. For a bibliophile like myself, the idea of having literally hundreds of books at your fingertips at any given moment is incredibly attractive. The EV-DO wireless broadband lets you download books anywhere, too – so you’re never without reading material. Ultimately, I’m too much of a romantic to give up buying actual books – especially since I collect old, used ones. But it seems like a cool idea nonetheless.
We’re definitely in an economic downturn where people are less likely to run out and spend money on frivolous things, but I think that with Oprah’s endorsement, the Amazon Kindle could still get a huge bump in holiday sales.
Plenty Magazine’s Top 10 Overexposed Green Celeb Stories
July 2, 2008
Plenty Magazine’s editors are sick of hearing about green celebs – especially the stories that have been regurgitated over and over again all over the web. We hear them. Some news seems to go on forever, to the point that it’s still repeated as news nearly a year after the fact. It’s easy to OD on celebrity news. Here are some of the stories they’d like to bury forever:
10. Natalie Portman’s vegan shoe line. A pretty young actress made herself a vegan shoe line that includes fetching shiny red pumps. Got it.
9. Kate Hudson’s natural haircare line. A pretty young actress made herself a natrual haircare line which allows her pretty blonde hair to continue to look pretty. Got it.
8. Punky Brewster’s eco-baby store. Hey, remember Punky Brewster? Oh, you do remember because there were 3500 articles about her opening an eco baby store? Me too! I also remember because I enjoyed watching the televised adventures of that sassy little scamp. She’s all grown up now.
7. Brangelina are saving the world several babies at a time. Gorgeous actress Angelina Jolie paired up with pretty actor Brad Pitt, who bears an alarming resemblance to the young version of her dad, and now they do lots of good green deeds for redeveloping post-Katrina New Orleans together. Good for them.
Some of the others include Adrian Grenier, Ed Begley Jr. and Oprah. Get Plenty Mag’s take on all of those stories at The Dirt.
Link [Plenty Mag]
Photo credit: People Magazine
