In a desperate attempt to unbrand themselves as the patron saint of quadruple bypass surgery, Kentucky Fresh (ha, not Fried anymore, get it??) Chicken restaurants in conjunction with Oprah, the patron saint of dieters, is offering a free two-piece grilled chicken meal deal. All you have to do is go to their site, print up to 4 copies of the coupon and take it to the KFC nearest you! (It is time sensitive though – the coupon will only be up through May 6, 2009.) You don’t even have to give them your fake e-mail address!
Obviously it’s a fab deal economically speaking, but is it such a good deal from a nutritional standpoint? I’ve long hated how many fast food restaurants will label a food “healthy” simply because it’s not as nutrionally void as everything else on their menu. So I checked out the nutritional info and was actually decently pleased. While this certainly isn’t the dead flesh of omnivorous (that’s one thing I learned from Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food – that chickens are naturally omnivorous and so anything that says “grain fed” actually means crap) cage-free chickens, it is not bad! A breast clocks in at 180 calories, 4g of fat and 35g of protein. The one downside is the sodium content at 440mg.
The other issue, however, is that you’re not just getting chicken. I realize that most people will see the addition of a biscuit, coleslaw and “potatoes” as just plain awesomeness but in my book those sides push the meal from okay into did-you-know-there-is-an-airline-that-charges-fat-people-for-every-pound-they-are-over-their-ideal-weight scariness. But whatever, free chicken is free chicken and I can always throw mine over a salad. Although who am I kidding- those biscuits are like crack – if I get one I’m probably eating it.
This type of marketing campaign seems to be gaining momentum. A while back Quiznos had free sandwich coupons on their website and we used those as a fun family dinner out. (You know you’re a parent when fine dining is a “buffet” of sandwich toppings behind a sneezeguard. And someone who looks like you but only smaller still manages to blow snot on someone else’s food.) While I normally am not a Quiznos (or any other sandwich shop) fan, the lure of free food overruled my persnickitiness. Although I will fess up that while my husband and kids each ate their sandwich with gusto, I ate at home before going and munched on jalapeno slices instead.
So – on the healthnut scale, where do you rank? Is this free lunch a good deal? Will you eat something you wouldn’t normally try, if it’s free? Or did you just read to the first paragraph and are already off printing your coupons and calling everyone you know?
PS> You’re welcome!
I probably wouldn’t use the coupon, not because I’m that much of a health nut, but because I am a huge food snob. I do love free stuff though! Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry’s is one of my favorite days of the year (in my mind, Ben and Jerry’s = gourmet, not junk) and sometimes I go to the local organic grocery store just to see what free samples they have out that day (yesterday, they had Wisconsin cheddar cheese, organic cookies, and mango key lime salsa…yum!)
Ah Tyler! You are my kind of food snob!! I too love the free sample trays in the organic stores. I call it “walking lunch”:)
My mother-in-law (a fast food eater unlike myself) was recently telling me about the new “healthy” grilled chicken at KFC. My reply was “Hmm wonder how much salt is in there”. After reading your post…yep, way too much. After three kids I bloat like a balloon at the sight of salt (so not fair!). So despite my innate cheapness, I just can’t eat it.
But it does get me thinking about fresh grilled chicken on my barbecue…yummy!
bjbella – I should do a post on bloating. I totally know how you feel! Esp. now that I’m pregnant, I’m like a parade float. Except filled with water.
Looking back on my childhood, I am amazed at my mother’s forbearance at my food choices. Why is it children can live, thrive, and survive on McCheapy’s Fried Foodstuffs while adults have to eat three bean sprouts and a stalk of celery for dinner?
I laugh how EXCITED people got about this.
Im all about the coupons and freecitement IF its something I normally would have purchased (have always wanted to get but found too $$ etc).
Ill eat almost ANY protein and the KFC frightens me a bit so I passed.
Miz, who can, however, spend a morning at Costco going up and down the aisle snagging samples in little cups.
I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot celery stalk….but, to be fair, I recognize for those who already eat there, it IS actually an improvement. It’s all relative.
When you were ED, did you ever receive comments about naturally rail-thin versus ED-thin? I ask because I am always told “you are soooo skinny, but you’re luck because you can tell it’s just how you are built” and then I laugh in my head as I consider how they have no idea how messed up my relationship with food and exercise is. The only people who think I’m scary thin are the people who knew me BEFORE, but anyone I meet now just thinks I’m naturally this slim. this puts me in a conundrum because how can I belive my friends and family who say I look unnatural, when the rest think i’m the picture of health? again, is it becaues it’s relative? and if it is relative, then my fam and friends worry only based on comparison…thoughts? mmmwa
I’m a sucker for free, and if there were a KFC in Ptown (which, thank god, there isn’t) I’d be down there with my coupons.
When we’ve stopped at KFC on road trips, I always peel off the skin, but you can tell the chicken underneath has absorbed a lot of whatever they fry it in. So I’d be curious about the grilled stuff.
Of course then you have the carcinogens from the grilling process… so it would still be only an occasional thing even if it was good.
Once I was able to say no thank you to my grandmother and her pleading big brown eyes, holding out a plateful of unhealthy food, saying it to anyone else was easy!
Merry – Because they’re growing and we’re… well, we’re not getting any taller,lol!
Miz – Yeah, nothing like “FREE” to get people all in a tizzy. Good point about only taking things you’d have wanted anyhow.
Mackenzie – Good question. Yes, I’ve had those comments. My fave of that variety was “Some people look sick ultra thin but you make it look good!” Uhhhh… Actually those comments always REALLY stressed me out. Because what happened when my ED failed me (as I knew it would?)? Would they not like me anymore? Think I’m beautiful??
Also, for the record, I’m not so sure there is any such thing as “naturally rail thin.” Sure, there are people for whom being thin is easier than others but if a BMI of 25 was ever considered the epitome of beauty again, you’d see even the “I can eat whatever I want and not gain an ounce” girls chubbing up.
Oh, I saw this & all I could think about was the sides everyone was going to put with this.. also, the nutritionals are not quite what I want with the sodium & I can make my own chicken with a better make up & no sodium probs! Plus, I am not always sure I trust what goes on behind the scenes at fast food places!
BUT, I did print a couple coupons cause my hubby does not eat as clean as I do & I have to respect that. This is at least better than some of the other things he could be eating!
Me, I will stick with my healthy made at home food!
I can’t get past the picture of the chick in the burger bun, so I don’t think I’ll be rushing off to KFC anytime soon. I’ll stick to my veggies, whole wheat bread and hummus for lunch thank-you very much.
I was super excited to see this! I went right to the site and started printing and emailed it around the office! lol. Such is the life of a woman working horrendous hours to keep her daughter in daycare and husband in grad school… Cheap (free) and fast. But I did have to check the site to see if there was even a KFC nearby. I’ve never been there but the biscuits look like something I could go for 🙂
I go back and forth with the vegetarianism, and after seeing that poor little chick in the bun I can’t even think about eating chicken. Back in the day I would have KFC every once in a while, but if you saw the KFC in my town you would probably never eat chicken again. Although I completely agree with you about KFC’s biscuits – YUM!
I think any time you get to use a the word persnickety in a writing concept I’m all in. Lunch coupon is on my calendar. Yogurt, you’ll just have to stay in the fridge today.
I don’t think I’ll be doing that. Too much sodium makes me cranky.
I will, however, eat at fast-food places if it’s a road trip and I’m hungry.
“But whatever, free chicken is free chicken and I can always throw mine over a salad.”
You give up the vegetarianism? Not judging, just curious.
I tend to take advantage of free stuff at places I like (Ben & Jerry's!) if I have time during the day (but I often don't get a chance), but I don't really care for KFC so this doesn't tempt me. There are so many wonderful non-chain restaurants in New Orleans that in general, I try to reserve my splurges for places that don't serve fast food. Case in point. I love Sonic. I have a $10 gift certificate to Sonic. I've had it since Christmas. There are just so many other places I want to eat that I never get around to the fast food!
excellent point about the sides – yeah, you can get grilled chicken but those mashed potatoes and corn muffins (or whatever they serve, I haven’t been there in years and as a kid, I was a Brown’s Chicken kind of girl) bump you back up into garbage land. That said, I’m a sucker for a deal and am thinking about sending my hubby the link for the coupon. The economy is making us eat!!
Mmmmmm open face baby chick sandwich…
Let’s give KFC the benefit of the doubt. Try it once and if you don’t like it, no one is twisting your arm to go back. People give them crap for making bad food, and when they try to make it healthier, they get crap for that too.
I love a deal and if I will definitely use this on a day when there are no leftovers for lunch.
My husband really wanted to try this chicken last week and I thought it was pretty good. In fact, it tasted a lot less greasy than your average supermarket rotisserie chicken. More like something you would cook on an outdoor grill.
They do offer green beans as a side. They were nice and bland and inoffensive instead of coated in butter. 🙂
I think I’m gonna skip it. I’m still waiting for the drive-through with fresh, healthy, whole food options, including vegetarian, vegan, raw, etc. Guess I’m kind of a food snob, too.
(I also heart the free samples at the health food store!)
Well… no…because we really are eating the bird that’s in the photo! Also, I wouldn’t take a free but unhealthy meal. I am lucky to have enough money to turn that sort of thing down.
I wouldn’t necessarily be tempted by KFC … when I splurge, it’s definitely for sweet things … so if Coldstone, Ben and Jerry’s, Harry and Davids, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory offered free food, I would be there in a flash. I do have to say though … those KFC biscuits are dangerously good and bad at the same time.
A couple of weeks ago they were giving out a free piece of chicken a la carte. I got the breast, and it was pretty darn good.
I plan on going with the coupon but telling them to keep their side dishes. Then I’m going to take the chicken home, cut it up, and stir-fry it with a bunch of broccoli and snap-peas.
I’m torn. I’m definitely not a huge health nut, but I did swear off chain fast food about 3.5 years ago and I’ve had very few indulgences since. KFC was one of those about 3 years ago and it made me sick for 2 whole days.
I am also the same girl that takes down buffet food after a long run without batting an eye and I feel fine after. Some of it might be mental because I see fast food and think poison? On road trips, I thank the dear fluffy lord for Subways because it’s either that or utter crap for lunch stops.
When I saw the Oprah yesterday I got all excited about free food…until that was the free food. First of all, I’m a vegetarian, so of course I immediately thought about sending her a snarky letter for leaving us out. I thought better of it, though, because someday I’m going to be famous (don’t know what for yet) and I don’t want to anger Oprah. My next thought was that I could at least get the free sides, but since I’m trying to not add anything else into my saddle bags, I just passed on that, too.
Jody – It’s all about the compromise with the family members, no?
javachick – Yeah, I’m pretty subtle;)
FitMama – I’m not going to lie to you. Their biscuits are divine. SO so good. Enjoy!
TJ – Yes, I had to give up vegetarianism for the pregnancy. My iron was too low and supplements alone weren't doing the trick.
Decayed – I am STILL bummed that I missed out on the Ben & Jerry's love fest. The closest one is 1/2 hour away and I just couldn't swing it that day.
Neversaydiet – so much anecdotal evidence about the effect the economy is having on our waistlines!!
Illuminati – I expect a full report back from you, sir!
keyalus – oooh, I love green beans! Didn’t know that was even an option! Tks!!
Azusmom – Seriously!! I’ve been waiting for that place my entire life. I even thought about starting a restaurant like that once. I would call it “people food.” I know, I’m a genius.
Breinchile – I’m an ice cream girl myself.
Dragonmama – sounds like you and I need a lunch date, sister! Great minds think alike;)
Jen – your comment about Oprah will have me giggling all day. I have TOTES had the same thought myself!
Free! 🙂
I’d have to make a side trip to take advantage of the offer, so I probably won’t go for it. (If it were walking distance from work, though, I’d be on it.) A friend sent me the link, and I did look up the sides to see if they had anything that would work for me, and the green beans looked like a good option. (I’d probably tell them to hold the biscuit, though. It just wouldn’t be the same, not being able to smother it in honey anymore.)
So I never eat at KFC and to be honest, I don’t even know if there’s one close to my home. I don’t remember ever seeing one, and I just don’t even pay attention to where fast food palces are becuse I have zero interest in eating crap.
I am obviously also super observant of my surroundings! HA! You would think I might notice a whole restaurant! 🙂
I do like free stuff though! 🙂
Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, its not valid in Canada otherwise I’d be all over the free unhealthy food. I think they did it today because it was McHappy Day at McDonalds…
Hmmm . . . I’d totally print it out and eat one if I knew where a KFC was near me.
Fortunately for my waistline, I’m incredibly lazy – too lazy to go look up the nearest KFC. So I’m safe. (Actually, mostly I’d be afraid that I’d end up driving by and bingeing on it if I knew where there was one. I LOVELOVELOVE KFC, no matter HOW bad it is for me. It’s better if I don’t know where the locations are. ;D)
WARNING (from my possibly paranoid husband):
You need to install a program to print out the coupon. He says that it could be a spyware program that will always be running and slow down your computer, and recommends you don’t do it.
Ummm… I’m a college student. If it’s free, chances are I’m already eating it.
I have to say that the photo of the chickie in bun put me right off from considering it — even if the riots hadn’t happened:
http://gawker.com/5242778/oprah-kfc-coupon-riot
That said, I am wondering how much the “Is it free? Is it fast? Yes, I’m eating it” concept may have contributed at least in part to some of the riots, as underscored by comments here.
In the eating healthy wars, mid-recession, it’s hard to shut out the pound “the food budget, the week’s food budget” in the back of the head.
a “grilled” chicken option from KFC sounds like a good idea… it would be even better if they didn’t use meat from biologically engineered chicken-beasts