When Charles Thompson, a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. Frank Black formed the Pixies back in the eighties, he probably had no idea just how influential the band would become. Over twenty years later, Pixies fans still can’t get enough – and that includes me, seriously I luurve the Pixies. Thankfully they reunited once again in 2004, and there are even rumours of a new album. Yay! So, what else has Black Francis been up to these days besides a flourishing solo career? Why, saving chickens from KFC, of course!

Ever since we heard the Pixies song, Monkey Gone to Heaven, we thought Frank Black might have a soft spot for animal and environmental issues, and we were right! He recently signed PETA US’ petition against fast-food giant KFC because he wants to help end the suffering of chickens at the hands of KFC’s suppliers.

What we and Frank Black want you to know is that every year hundreds of millions of chickens are tortured and killed for KFC’s restaurants around the world. These sensitive, intelligent birds are crammed by the tens of thousands into crowded waste-filled sheds where they’ll spend their entire miserable existence.In the US, it is standard industry practice for baby chicks to have their beaks cut off and for the birds to be bred to grow so large that their body can’t support their own weight, causing them to become crippled and suffer broken bones. At the slaughterhouse, the chickens are hung upside-down, their throats are slit, and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water – often while they are still fully conscious.

Join Frank Black and help save chickens today! Pledge to boycott KFC by signing our petition.

Frank Black image: Freschwill / CC

Natalie Jackson, from West Yorkshire, was a big fan of KFC. In fact, she liked it so much she ate there three times a week, and has been known to stay for nearly an hour and a half. That was until she got a £150 parking fine for overstaying her welcome. Now she refuses to go back there. Oh, and did I mention that she and her friend happened to be dining on 14 pieces of chicken, and six bags of fries and large cokes?

Here at PETA, we applaud Natalie’s boycott of KFC (even though it’s for different reasons than ours). So we popped a letter and Vegetarian Starter Kit in the post to her, congratulating her on her boycott and pointing out that chickens who are raised and killed for KFC are abused in ways that would make her lose her lunch. Our director, Robbie LeBlanc, said, “If KFC thinks £150 is an appropriate fine for a customer who over-parked by 13 minutes, it makes you wonder what the penalty should be for serving the fried corpses of almost 1 billion tortured birds every year.” Touché.

Here’s the letter we sent to Natalie.

Alex Bury, a PETA Foundation (US) staff member and Vegan Outreach president Jack Norris’s recent wedding was for the birds – and they wouldn’t have had it any other way. The San Fran couple are so committed to spreading the veggie message (she proposed to him while they were handing out vegetarian leaflets), that they flew to Canada and got hitched to each other at a Toronto KFC restaurant.

Why take the big plunge at a Canadian KFC? Marriage isn’t the only thing new and exciting on the menu. Thanks to PETA US’ landmark agreement with the company that coordinates the purchase of chickens for all KFC franchises in Canada, chickens killed for KFCs in Canada are now subject to various welfare improvements and most KFCs in Canada have added a faux chicken sandwich to their menus. Making their vegan wedding a joyous occasion for everyone involved, the newlyweds served the new sandwich at their reception. What did guests think of the faux fowl? It was love at first bite. Speaking of love, congratulations Alex and Jack! Here are pics of the happy event:

Every day, Woking train station is flooded with KFC employees, making their way to KFC HQ in this large, but otherwise unexciting town. Some will come through bright eyed and button nosed, some perhaps with hangovers, but all will – like most workers* – be looking around at their last remaining minutes of freedom before the working day begins.

So we took the next logical step and decided to place Pamela Anderson’s anti-Kentucky Fried Chicken billboard at this very same station. Well, I say ‘billboard’ but we actually tried for two. And you know what folks, both of them were rejected – how rude! A representative of Titan (the billboard company depriving Woking of these Pamela Anderson posters) said, “The poster is ‘attacking’ another brand, and that will not be allowed by the TOC who is the landlord”.

Hmm, perhaps they should think about the slightly larger ‘attack’ on the roughly one billion chickens killed for KFC every single year.

* Except employees of PETA. Apply here.

PETA’s gorgeous devotee has taken yet another opportunity to speak up for animals – in Australia, mate!

She headed down under for an appearance in Australia’s Big Brother (why can’t we get Pam in our Big Brother?!) and also hand-delivered a copy of her letter to Albert Baladi, managing director of KFC’s parent company in Australia, to staff at a local KFC. She gave each manager a copy of her explicit video, which reveals KFC suppliers scalding chickens to death in defeathering tanks and other atrocities.

In the letter, Pam explains:

“I’ve been in Australia filming Big Brother, in which my housemates and I are confined and sealed off from the outside world, much like the chickens who are crammed inside barns for KFC. Fortunately, I won’t be stomped to death, have my legs broken or be scalded to death in a tank of hot water—yet, as PETA’s undercover videos have revealed, the chickens raised for KFC’s restaurants in Australia often suffer these abuses.”

Pam urges Baladi to follow the Canadian lead, where landmark animal welfare reforms were made last month to ways in which chickens will be killed for Canada’s KFCs.

Let me cut through the confusing acronyms (KFC, ASA, CSR, KT, UK – and of course my favourite – PETA) and boil it down for you: PETA’s campaign is hitting the company so hard they’re now seeking specialist PR support. The story here is far from a story full of random placement of capital letters. It seems KFC cannot contend with PETA’s high-profile campaign on its own anymore and is COFFCOFFRUNNING-TO-MUMMYCOFFCOFF seeking help from a PR firm to try and raise its ailing reputation.

Now, call me a stirrer, but after reading the article I wanted to pull a couple of KFC quotes from it, and then rip them apart (because it’s Monday and I just like to do things like that – you’ll get used to it)

Quote 1: ‘It’s not about health and wellbeing. KFC just wants to do good things.’
Now hang on a second, can anyone tell me just what there is that’s good about KFC? Especially considering that many of the poor chickens endure live scalding - and painful de-beaking – before they’re killed? I mean, I know it’s Monday but have I woken up on the wrong side of bed today or what?
Matt’s interpretation: “We don’t really care about the masses, we just want to line our pockets” or perhaps “QUICK!! What can we say, I know, let’s err away from the obesity issue”

Which would lead me onto their second quote:

Quote 2: ‘KFC is not at the forefront of obesity-related issues,’
Ahem.. anyone doing a Google image search for “KFC Fat” may like to disagree with that one matey! (the second image in particular!)
Matt’s interpretation: “OMG! We’re at the forefront of obesity-related issues, lets hire some PR firm sharpish!”

Anyway, I digress – The original point was that this story hit the front page of PR Week, an excellent means to highlight this issue among those who may not have thought twice about cruelty to chickens. That the ASA ruled in PETA’s favour is nothing I didn’t expect to happen anyway, but KFC hiring a PR firm is so fruitless, everyone knows what KFC stands for. (feel free to make suggestions of your own)

Your sarky neighbourhood Matt

Over the past few months a lively debate has been taking place between PETA and the ASA (those eager beavers at the Advertising Standards Authority) over whether a PETA leaflet that describes the abuse inflicted upon chickens for KFC is offensive and violates the ASA’s Code. The good news is; we won – the ASA determined PETA had done nothing wrong!

So, some Britons think a picture of the Colonel slashing up chickens is offensive? Well, you know what? KFC’s suppliers keep chickens kept locked up in tiny cages, throw them in scalding hot water and then slit their throats - that’s offensive. The facts that PETA give are always the truth; we simply serve to get them out to the general public. We do have freedom of speech in this country, right? Anyway, we won, we won!

Sigh. To have KT Tunstall’s looks and knee-trembling singing voice… But the award-winning Scottish lass, who was catapulted to fame with Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, is much, much more than that - she’s a heroine to every single chicken suffering and dying for KFC restaurants all over the world. You may remember my telling you that all chickens killed for KFCs in Canada will be given better lives and gentler deaths, but they’ll have no such luck here in the UK - unless they have a helping hand from people like you who care. And KT is not one to mumble in the corner about it! Read the letter below that she sent to every single KFC restaurant manager in Scotland, along with a shocking DVD, pressuring the company to stop its suppliers’ worst abuses of chickens. Thanks KT!

I am so unbelievably excited about this. PETA US has officially ended their campaign against KFC in Canada following negotiations that led to drastic changes in the way chickens will be raised and killed for Canadian KFCs. Before I divulge the details, just a word that these KFCs in Canada operate separately from KFC elsewhere – including KFCs in the UK – so the boycott here continues. Anyway, moving on …

Following months of closed-door negotiations between PETA US and the company that coordinates the purchasing of chickens for all Canadian KFCs, 100 percent of its chickens killed for Canadian KFCs will be purchased (through a phase-in programme) from suppliers that use ‘controlled-atmosphere killing’ (CAK), which is the least cruel method of bird slaughter available. I mean, killing birds for food (or any reason) sucks, but I assure you, this is a much kinder way of doing it.

So how does it work? CAK replaces the birds’ oxygen with a mixture of non-poisonous inert gasses to put them “to sleep.” So we can say goodbye to broken bones, abuse by workers (as workers never handle live birds this way), electric shocks, live throat slitting and scalding.

The living conditions, breeding and farming practices are also set to improve, as well as forming an animal welfare advisory council. And here’s the bit that goes that extra bit further for me: the company will also allow PETA US to review its animal welfare audit forms every six months. Nice one!

But wait for it, there’s more. Who loves vegan chicken? Who doesn’t?! Those lucky so-and-sos in Canada will be able to get fried-vegan chicken in 461 of its 711 stores. That’s 65 percent of KFCs in Canada! Man, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. But alas, here in sunny, sunny England we continue our campaign against KFC.

Well done to everyone who played a part in securing this amazing success. As they say, every drop in the ocean…

Award-winning Canadian actor Ryan Gosling has fired off a letter to the CEO of Priszm Income Fund (which operates most KFCs in Canada) pushing for an end to their suppliers’ worst abuses of chickens on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. The Half Nelson and Fracture star proves he is more than just a pretty face, calling upon the company to make the compassionate choice and adopt better welfare standards for chickens killed for KFC. In the letter, he says:

Image: DeadlineHollywoodDaily / CC