Comedian Condemns Cruelty, Calls for KFC Boycott

[Smokey H]

Comedian Condemns Cruelty, Calls for KFC Boycott

For Immediate Release:
July 6, 2004

Contact:
Dan Shannon 757-622-7382   

Detroit — PETA had hoped to launch the latest salvo in its campaign against KFC in Detroit, but it was rejected by all local outdoor-advertising companies. As part of PETA’s international campaign to pressure KFC to crack down on its suppliers’ cruel treatment of birds, the animal rights group has created new ads featuring comedian Richard Pryor. In the billboard, Pryor urges people to "join us in boycotting KFC for its cruelty to chickens." In an effort to counter KFC’s attempts to target African-Americans, PETA has also placed a print version of the ad in many of the largest African-American newspapers in the country.


Pryor joins PETA in calling on KFC to make basic improvements based on the best available scientific research and the recommendations of members of KFC’s own animal-welfare advisory panel. Undercover investigations into KFC suppliers in Germany, India, England, and Australia have turned up exactly the same abuses as were found in the U.S.—crippled chickens living in crowded, filthy conditions. The widely read British newspaper The Sunday Mirror led a report on an investigation into a U.K. KFC supplier with the headline "Distressed and Dying in a Cramped Shed … Nobody Does Chicken Like KFC."


Pryor is the latest in a growing roster of celebrities who have joined PETA’s KFC Campaign. Seinfeld star and ex-KFC pitchman Jason Alexander had his contract with KFC canceled after PETA enlisted him to speak to company execs about the suffering of chickens. PETA has had additional high-profile support from hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, actor Pamela Anderson, rock icons Sir Paul McCartney and Chrissie Hynde, and civil-rights leader Dick Gregory.


"KFC supports cruelty to animals," says Richard Pryor. "Please join me, along with millions of other Americans, in boycotting KFC restaurants until the company agrees to meet PETA’s simple demands to eliminate the very worst abuses."


For more information and to view a copy of the ad, please visit PETA’s Web site KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

[JTF]

Smokey H,

I thought KFC stood for "Kitchen Fresh Chicken." Wow, I feel su gullible and used, just like the average moron. I'm shocked. And I thought it was just plain bad chicken that made me sick...

[bingolong]

Smokey H,
Yo that's cool of Jason Alexander to back out of his contract!!

[Jennifer]

Smokey H,
Thanks Charlie-I quess-not everybody is reading animal rights/rescue-so it's good to post it here as well!

[JTF]

bingolong,

I thought it meant that he was fired for appearing at a PETA event. I guess it really wasn't time for some really good chicken...