The Chain Gang

Burger King Tricked Some Poor Chicken Into Deciding If People Get to Eat Her Friends

Gloria has no idea the pressure she's under.
Gloria has no idea the pressure she’s under. Photo: Burger King

Get ready: Burger King has brought back its shockingly popular Chicken Fries — sort of. You see, not everyone will get to just head on out and buy them. This year’s promotion involves, oddly, an actual live chicken that will apparently decide whether customers do or do not get to order the aforesaid fries. Yes, it’s scarcity marketing at its absolute strangest.

Here’s how it’s going to work, according to a press release for the stunt (which is titled “Is a Chicken in Charge of Burger King Restaurants?”): The chain has found a chicken and named her Gloria. The hen departed yesterday from New York on “a national Random Gloria tour” wherein she’ll appear at certain stores and be tricked into deciding whether people do or do not get to eat fries made out of her fellow chickens. She will do this by pecking at one of two bowls — one for “yes,” another marked “no.” If Gloria deigns to select the “yes” bowl at a given location, that store can sell chicken-flesh fries for the rest of the day. If Gloria chooses “no,” customers just have to eat their Whoppers with regular ol’ potato fries, it seems. And presumably, if Gloria selects no bowl at all, she will be turned into Chicken Fries herself and swapped out for another bird that’s up to the task. (You brought that on yourself, Gloria.)

As you might guess, PETA’s not laughing, and prospective customers probably won’t be either if they actually decide, okay, they will order something called “Chicken Fries,” only to have their attempts thwarted by some dumb bird. You don’t see Shake Shack or Chipotle doing things like this:


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Burger King Tricked Some Poor Chicken Into Deciding If People Get to Eat Her