Franchising Jumps on the Twitter Bandwagon

Ashton Kutcher has a million followers on Twitter. Church’s Chicken is probably glad it doesn’t have that many, since it’s promising to give away $1 for every person who joins its Twitter feed over the next 30 days. Realistically, the company is hoping to attract at least 10,000 followers, which translates to $10,000 in cash prizes. The company plans to send representatives to at least 10 restaurants across the country and randomly award $1,000 each to unsuspecting customers. Church’s also rewarded one customer with an Xbox 360 for becoming its 1,000th follower on Twitter. Cash and video games? We’d take that over a free chicken sandwich any day.

More Twitter news. Pizza Hut has just put out word that it’s looking for a Twittering intern, or Twintern. "They’ll be our social media journalist, chronicling in 140 characters or less what’s going on at Pizza Hut," company VP Bob Kraut told The New York Times.  Applicants must be currently enrolled in college, willing to move to Dallas for the summer, and be fluent in tweet speak. LOL.

Burger King sued over condiments. First McDonald’s got whacked with a $2.9 million judgment for scalding an elderly customer with dangerously hot coffee. Now a man in Virginia is going after BK for $100,000 because the staff forgot to hold the onions, pickles and tomatoes. The man says he didn’t realize the offending veggies were still on the burger until he took his first bite, triggering a severe allergic reaction. He’s suing for lost wages and medical bills.

Fast food slows down. It’s not just fine dining that’s getting hit by the recession. Fast food is also suffering. The fast food restaurant segment experienced its first decline this quarter since winter 2003, according to a new report from market research firm NPD Group. The report blames rising unemployment and low consumer confidence. So what’s it going to take to turn things around? "It’s going to take product innovation, a strong value proposition, and creativity to capture market share," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at NPD. Hmm, those bacon cheeseburger pizzas and Mega Mass smoothies are starting to sound pretty good.