Anyone else feel a little weird about Oprah's big KFC giveaway?

Oprah walks into a KFC ... No, it's not the beginning of a racially insensitive joke, Oprah Winfrey is actually promoting KFC's new grilled chicken by doing what she does best: giving it away. You can get up to four free two-piece chicken meals with two sides and a biscuit by going to UnthinkKFC.com today (before 11 p.m. EST) and printing your coupons, which can be used anytime before May 19 (excluding Mother's Day, because you're a total cheapskate if you take your mom out for free chicken). That is a good deal, but the deal is not what I'm interested in. No one is uppity about this yet, and my question is: Why is it cool for Oprah to back KFC when there's something horribly wrong with Obama Fingers fried chicken and the Obama Fried Chicken restaurants? Does the fact that the chicken is grilled, not fried, mean that that the promotion doesn't have anything to do with race? Or is it that Oprah is a willing participant in the chicken giveaway? Now, I'm not going to debate the legitimacy of the stereotype that black people like fried chicken. However the two unrelated things were associated, somewhere along the line it happened, and now it's foolish to ignore that the association exists or debate whether it should. Oprah connects herself with all that baggage when she aligns her brand with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even if it's all about "rethinking" or "unthinking," we've got to think the initial thought in order to rethink or unthink it. It's just a bit confusing why she would risk the negative association, but I'm sure her brand will survive. As long as next week's giveaway doesn't make us rethink watermelon.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers