People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has enlisted the help of Rev. Al Sharpton in its long campaign against KFC. Sharpton, reports this morning’s New York Times, has made an 8-minute video for PETA telling African Americans not to “give our money to KFC.” Sharpton joins the distinguished ranks of PETA spokespersons including Pamela Anderson, Anna Nicole Smith, and Dennis “The Worm” Rodman. Who’s next? Tonya Harding?
KFC gets its chicken from the same suppliers as most other chicken restaurants. So how was a man whose favorite Harlem restaurant actually named a “chicken and waffles” entrée after him convinced to lend his name and likeness to PETA’s anti-chicken road show? After all, when Sharpton emerged from prison in 2001 after a four-week hunger strike, he didn’t ask for tofu and lentils. He reportedly told a crowd of well-wishers: “I’m going to walk through Harlem just to settle in again, then I’m going to Amy Ruth’s for some fried chicken.”
