Fast food franchises are going from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Or, depending on whom you ask, from the sublime to the sublimer. First it was KFC’s bunless Double Down, a stroke of marketing – if not gastronomic – genius. Now Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are pushing the envelope even farther with a footlong cheeseburger, which is currently being tested at 100 restaurants. The burger is clearly a response to the Double Down as well as to Subway’s massive success with its $5 footlongs. "I'd rather have a charbroiled, footlong cheeseburger than a cold, footlong deli sandwich any day,” Carl’s Jr. marketing chief told USA Today. The chain’s core audience of young men 18 to 24 probably agrees. But with a diet like that, they might not make it past 30.
Skinny fries. Despite gut-busters like the footlong cheeseburger, American fast food is actually getting healthier. New research from the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health found that popular burger franchises have decreased the amount of trans and saturated fats in their foods. The researchers took their work to the streets, examining fat levels in french fries sold at five fast food chains: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Jack in the Box, and Dairy Queen. The study found that between 1997 and 2008, McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's significantly decreased the amount of trans fats in their fries. Fat levels at Dairy Queen and Jack in the Box remained the same. But follow-up research found that even these two laggards had cut back on trans and saturated fats over the last two years. So what does all this really mean? It means the next time we go to our favorite burger joint, we can supersize it with a clear conscience.
KFC is on a roll. First KFC transforms its Double Down bunless sandwich into a cultural phenomenon. And now it is in the spotlight again with the launch of its sweet and savory Doublicious chicken sandwich. To generate maximum hype, KFC is offering up to 50,000 free sandwiches to employees from competitive fast-food chains who order the Doublicious while wearing their work uniforms. And what should happen if these same employees lose their jobs for indulging in the new sandwich? Well, KFC says it will grant them “amnesty” in the form of a job application. A job application? Are they serious? Any derelict off the street can walk into KFC and get a job application. Of course, the corporate folks at KFC are no fools. You think they actually want to employ someone who is stupid enough to get fired over a free sandwich? KFC might not have the best-tasting food in the world, but their screening process is brilliant.
