KFC for the Cure? GAG.

Yes, you read that right. It’s a new fundraiser in the U.S. where Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has partnered up with Komen for the Cure to raise money for breast cancer research. It’s called “Buckets for the Cure” and they’re promoting it as “the largest single donation to end breast cancer”.  This is definitely a new low and I’m surprised and shocked that Komen agreed to be part of it, especially since it’s such an unhealthy form of chicken. Deep-fried and full of fat, but man do I LOVE the skin with all those special herbs and spices. My husband and I haven’t eaten KFC in over 3 years (because we did LA Weight Loss and learned to eat properly) but when we DID, I would eat the skin and some of the white meat and he’d eat the rest. We would fight over the skin! Nothing like a big hunk of chicken with a massive flavorful chunk of skin and all that coating….and of course now I’m aware of the fat.  The closest we get to fast food now  is Subway and the occasional Blizzard. We’re members of the Blizzard Fan Club and as a good member I can not stay away from a Blizzard if they send me a buy one, get one free coupon

Back to KFC and their fundraising. Yes, they even have PINK buckets for the chicken. I just heard about this tonight on a fellow breast cancer blogger’s blog. Here’s the link to what she wrote, and you’ll see many comments after the posting too! http://notjustaboutcancer.blogspot.com/2010/04/buckets-of-pink-sht.html

She titled the posting “Buckets of Pink Sh*t”. One person commented  they thought Komen has sunk to a new low, but that raising awareness is still good. I don’t understand why KFC couldn’t have just stroked a big-ass cheque to Komen and advertised the fact they did and not tie it to any product. It doesn’t seem to work that way these days however.

 ”Buckets for the Cure” is being promoted as “the largest single donation to end breast cancer”. www.bucketsforthecure.com is the website if you want to check it out for yourself and make your own judgement. For every pink bucket of chicken sold, KFC will donate 50 cents to Komen for the Cure. As of today, they have already raised $2,356,038 and their goal is to raise 8.5 MILLION DOLLARS. That’s a lot of coin and I’d sure like to see it happen, but ONLY for the research. Just thinking of how many people it will take, eating all that unhealthy food kinda makes me sick to my stomach. I’m impressed and sickened at the same time with the amount of money they’ve already raised. Their promotion says it’s 50 cents from every bucket of original or grilled chicken sold….hmmm. Like I said, I haven’t eaten at KFC in over 3 years so I don’t know what their grilled chicken is like (or if it’s a much healthier choice). It could be something they only have in the U.S. I’m heading to Philadelphia for a metastatic breast cancer conference this weekend so maybe I’ll get a chance to check it out. I won’t be buying any, I can guarantee that!

Despite the fact that they have a very large goal and a big campaign which does raise awareness, I just don’t like the idea of eating greasy, unhealthy food to raise money for breast cancer research. I wonder if Komen was approached with this and just couldn’t turn it down, simply because of the amount of money it has the potential to raise. How could anyone turn down 8.5 million for research? Komen may have thought “if we don’t work with them, someone else will and they’ll get the money - not us”. I image there was a lot of discussion in many boardrooms about this promotion…at least I hope there was.  In the end, they decided to get involved with KFC and now it seems the breast cancer community is less than impressed. I just hope this promotion does NOT come to Canada.