Lil' Barb wrote:
> "EVERY fast food CEO faces a fundamental challenge in this era of
> nutritional awareness: how to get folks to eat food that is often
> astonishingly bad for them."
>
> -------------------------
> "The Fast Food Plate and Switch"
>
> By Steve Almond
> Sunday, May 17, 2009
>
>
> WHEN KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN announced several weeks ago that it would
> be introducing grilled chicken, urging customers to "unthink KFC" --
> and forget what the "F" stands for -- I felt a thrill that was both
> involuntary and deeply embarrassing.
>
> I had become a devotee of Kentucky Fried back in the '80s, when I was
> a latchkey teen with an iron stomach. The Colonel's recipe made up an
> estimated 70 percent of my caloric intake. But over the next two
> decades, my digestive tolerance plummeted, my cholesterol levels
> spiked, and I cut back. The last time I partook of KFC was in graduate
> school during an epic binge. My friend John and I ordered the 10-piece
> dinner, then managed to sweet-talk another half dozen pieces from the
> bored cashier. An hour later, bloated from the salt and cramping from
> all the fat, I swore off the stuff.
>
> Why, then, did the Colonel's new, healthier product so entice me?
>
> Because I have a serious weakness for grilled anything. (My wife
> claims that I would eat shoe leather if it was properly marinated and
> grilled.)
>
> As it turns out, I wasn't alone in my curiosity about KFC grilled
> chicken. Thanks to a coupon for a free two-piece lunch proffered by
> Oprah Winfrey on her Web site and promoted on her show earlier this
> month, franchises across the country found themselves overrun by
> poultry-mad hordes. Apparently the company underestimated both the
> power of Oprah's endorsement and the allure of a free lunch during
> hard times. Consumers downloaded more than 10 million coupons, forcing
> the chain to pull the plug after serving just four million gratis
> meals.
>
> Chief executive Roger Eaton appeared on Oprah a few days later to
> apologize for the fiasco. But his "apology" was more celebratory than
> contrite. "We had very big projection numbers on this," he noted, "but
> not in our wildest imagination could we believe the response we've
> gotten."
>
> After all, the whole point of the coupon was to garner attention for
> the biggest product launch in company history. Mission accomplished.
>
> But Eaton's real agenda, I suspect, is far more nefarious. Like every
> other fast food CEO, he faces a fundamental challenge in this era of
> nutritional awareness: how to get folks to eat food that is often
> astonishingly bad for them.
>
> One popular strategy is to target populations -- kids, teens and the
> poor in particular -- who tend to ignore nutritional warnings. Thus
> the massive migration of fast food franchises onto high school and
> college campuses.
>
> What's more, virtually every fast food chain has used the economic
> downturn to drum up sales with dollar menus and other special
> discounts.
>
> But fast food executives have also found ways to exploit consumer
> anxieties over nutrition, by introducing allegedly "healthy" menu
> options.
>
> These items serve two crucial functions. First, they attract a segment
> of the population that otherwise might never set foot in a fast food
> restaurant. My friend Billy, for instance, is able to convince his
> vegetarian wife to visit McDonald's because salads and yogurt parfaits
> are on the menu.
>
> Second, these "healthy" options wind up allowing consumers to feel
> okay about frequenting what amount to dietary houses of sin. After
> all, the barrier to purchase when it comes to fast food isn't cost,
> convenience or taste. It's guilt.
>
> And fast food executives are well aware of this psychological dynamic.
> It's their job, basically, to draw customers who want to gorge
> themselves but know that they shouldn't. I myself have played this
> game plenty of times. If I get the Diet Coke and the side salad, I'll
> have "earned" the large fries.
>
> What's more remarkable is that the very presence of healthy items on a
> fast food menu can induce consumers to feel better about ordering a
> high-fat alternative.
>
> A recent study of fast food eating habits revealed an effect known as
> "vicarious goal fulfillment." This means that the simple act of
> considering a healthy item makes people feel justified in ordering the
> high-fat option. Even more astonishing is the fact that the pattern is
> more pronounced among eaters who normally exhibit high levels of self-
> control.
>
> This may come as a revelation to academics, but I'd be willing to bet
> my last Whopper that the fast food brass has known about it for years.
> After all, their profit margins depend on an acute psychological
> understanding of their paying customers.
>
> McDonald's most recent quarterly earnings statement tells the whole
> story. In these difficult times, they've seen profits climb due to
> increased sales of their core products, such as the 410-calorie
> Quarter Pounder, not their Garden Salads.
>
> Which brings us back to the KFC grilled chicken that, inevitably, I
> sampled a few days ago. The crowds had thinned by the time I showed
> up, but promotional banners emblazoned with sumptuous-looking grilled
> drumsticks were still flapping overhead.
>
> I hope it will not come as a shock to learn that KFC's "grilling"
> process involves no actual flames. Instead, the pieces are baked in a
> convection oven and imprinted with faux grill marks. The chicken
> itself tastes a lot like the rotisserie you can buy in supermarkets.
> But it is certainly true that KFC grilled offers a dramatic caloric
> improvement over the chain's Original Recipe. In fact, the fat content
> of a single Original Recipe breast (21 grams) is equal to an entire
> half chicken of the grilled variety.
>
> The problem is that when it came time to order our food, both my wife
> and I, rather predictably, fell victim to "vicarious goal
> fulfillment."
>
> I gave myself permission to order two sides, mashed potatoes with
> gravy and macaroni and cheese. My wife insisted that I get one
> Original Recipe piece for her. (It seems those 11 herbs and spices
> have sentimental value. She and her girlfriends used to eat KFC to
> ease the pain of break-ups.) In the end, our meals tipped the scales
> at more than 800 calories each. The FDA considers 2,000 calories to be
> a normal daily allotment.
>
> KFC's grilled chicken may go on to be a rip-roaring success. But like
> every "healthy" option dangled by fast food chains, it's ultimately a
> gimmick. The Colonel could care less whether you lose weight, as long
> as you keep fattening his wallet.
>
>
>
> [Steve Almond is the author, most recently, of the essay collection
> "(Not That You Asked)."]
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...1502067_2.html
>

Your X-posting missed the only group that cares.

-dk