Kenny's Chicken Roasters

Am I nuts for having absolutely no "problem" or qualms with Jerry Seinfeld's elevation of in-show product placement to stratospheric levels? Of course the Kenny Rogers episode was a half-hour plug--who cares? It was fucking hilarious. It was worth everything just to watch Newman pig out maniacally and Kramer intone, "It's the wood that makes it good." It struck me as rather precedent-setting, too, since usually sponsors won't allow humorous barbs to be directed at their products, or permit their corporate image to be presented in any sort of even mildly negative light. Yet here Jerry, the star, openly disdains the chicken; the bad guy eats it, and the slogan is at least partly mocked. Perhaps the publicity was so extensive that it becomes worth it--but I daresay it'll be a long time before you see anyone on TV making fun of General Motors.

Comments and e-mail replies welcome.

Nicholas

All of the Kenny Rogers Roaster restaurants in our area have closed down (now Boston Markets). Maybe the Seinfeld writing staff knew about the chain's closing.

Nice plug for a restaurant that was going out of business -- Kenny Rogers can use all the publicity he can get!

thx, Sue

I was in downtown New York yesterday and actually saw a Kenny Rogers Roaster. Maybe it's one of the last of its kind.

Kenny Roger's Roasters Ours is alive and well here in Chas. West Virginia

Quoth Evelyn L Ray : :

Ditto for Roanoke, Va. Maybe just the northernmost ones are gone?

[email] wrote:

Quoth Evelyn L Ray : : John ''SNAP!!!MAN'' Thorpe wrote:

Sue Dolleris wrote:

All of the Kenny Rogers Roaster restaurants in our area have closed down (now Boston Markets). Maybe the Seinfeld writing staff knew about the chain's closing.

Nice plug for a restaurant that was going out of business -- Kenny Rogers can use all the publicity he can get!

thx, Sue

 I was in downtown New York yesterday and actually saw a Kenny Rogers
 Roaster. Maybe it's one of the last of its kind.
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Kenny Roger's Roasters Ours is alive and well here in Chas. West Virginia

Ditto for Roanoke, Va. Maybe just the northernmost ones are gone?

Same here in Ottawa Canada. Ours is stil alive and doing well.

And I must say, that the food is extremely wicked!!!!

It`s the wood that makes it good-Newman

Wrong...I live up in Canada and ours is still here...

Guess we just lost them here in the Nashville area.

thx, Sue

There's one on the west end of Saginaw, Michigan last I knew. -John

Nicholas Corwin wrote in article ...

It worked for at least one person. My sister ate at Roaster's because of the episode (although she said it wasn't very good). I'm sure it helped rather than hurt their business.