Love that chicken from Popeyes

Twin City residents were salty, after traveling near and far to Popeyes Chicken on Lake Street, to find out that the franchise was not honoring the nationally advertised eight pieces of chicken for $4.99 on Earth Day. The local Fox 9 News thought this story was so mind-blowing, that they sent a field reporter to cover the shotty business practices and to get reactions from the irate costumers. While some may appreciate Fox for pulling the covers off the only Popeyes in the state of Minnesota – a franchise notorious for not honoring national deals – I feel there are bigger ramifications to this news stations’ coverage.

For starters, the fact that they did not honor the ad was not news worthy. Most national ads have disclaimers at the bottom that say, “Offer may vary at participating locations.” Even though two reliable sources informed me that this particular commercial did not have a disclaimer, most American consumers know the drill. We’ve come to accept airports and malls charging more than local chains, and no one throws a fit about it - we either buy the food or we move on. If the media decided to cover every time a local business did not honor a national ad, there would be a story practically every day. The bottom line is this, when you are a franchise, it is your prerogative to run sales as you see fit. As consumers, we may not like it, but it’s the fact of the matter.

The bigger issue I have with this “news” story is that it reinforces stereotypes to those who have negative perceptions about black people. The Fox 9 reporter started his report by saying, “I haven’t seen people this passionate about something in a long time!” Really, Mr. Reporter? Our country is at war, kids of color are steadily scoring lower on tests than their counterparts, people are losing their jobs and our country is in a recession, and the only thing we can get passionate about is fried chicken? What is more disheartening is that the people actually gave the news crew the material to use. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn’t watching the Chappelle Show or Chocolate News. Here they are, throwing a fit, because they couldn’t get their friend chicken. One foolish person had the audacity to let us know he caught a cab all the way from Burnsville. I haven’t taken the time to do a cost benefit analysis, but I do know cabs have a minimal fee of $5 and the alleged sale was for $4.99 plus tax.

To add to that, unlike our white brothers and sisters, people of color always represent the whole when negatively shown in the media. When the news has a breaking story that says, “Man caught stealing happy meal toys,” my first reaction is…please don’t let him be black. Why? It’s because unlearned individuals tend to think this one ignoramus represents the entire race. Arabs are now targeted because of the actions of some militant Muslims. Yet, whites were not targeted when Timothy McVeigh decided to drive a bomb into a government complex in Oklahoma City or when Ted Kaczynski, AKA the Unabomber, decided to send bombs via U.S. mail.

The reporter concluded his story by saying, “The moral of the story is, don’t mess with hungry people.” No Fox news, the moral of the story is you need to report on issues that matter for a change.