You, sir, are no Chick-Fil-A.
Mike would like for me to talk to you about something that’s been on his mind the past couple of weeks. That something is McDonald’s new chicken sandwich. Somehow or another, I obtained a coupon for one of their new Southern style chicken sandwiches and one of their new Southern style chicken biscuits. I think it came in my Amazon.com box, the one that had that Madeleine L’Engle book I never told you about (it was good). Though it could have been from school. Teachers get a lot of coupons. Mike, as he does, took the coupon and had the chicken sandwich. The chicken sandwich that wants to be a Chick-Fil-A sandwich, but apparently sadly fails.
I am sparing you the part of the story where he said, “I had one of McDonald’s new chicken biscuits today,” instead of, “I had one of McDonald’s new chicken sandwiches today,” and then he and I spent about ten minutes of miscommunication because I couldn’t figure out why he was talking about the bun. No wonder it was bad! They weren’t even using a real biscuit! But no. That part of the story would take too long to explain.
So, anyway, the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich really wants to be a Chick-Fil-A sandwich, and I have not had it myself, but Mike said it was fine. The chicken, he said, is not good, and is the thing you must get right in order to do the Chick-Fil-A sandwich. This might be McDonald’s best chicken sandwich, but it pales in comparison to the Real Thing, which is, of course, the Blessed Chick-Fil-A sandwich that we in this house know and love.
But that is not what really bothered Mike about the experience. What bothered him was the billboard that he saw later that day advertising the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich. The billboard that said something about how you could get this sandwich every day of the week, even Sundays. And to that, we say, “Booo!” I mean, yes, there have been times that we wanted to have delicious Chick-Fil-A sandwiches on Sunday. But not enough to go to McDonald’s. Especially if that is how they are positioning themselves.
After we had this discussion, Mike, in a move I found hilarious, went and used the coupon to actually get the Southern Style Chicken Biscuit, which, again, he said, was just not as good as the real thing. I would not have gone for the biscuit, I don’t think, if I was not hugely impressed by the sandwich. I just don’t like free food as much as he does. So, the question is, people: Do you want to be the kind of person who will eat a chicken sandwich just because it’s available on Sundays, or do you want to wait for the real thing? Choose wisely. Your soul may be at stake.
In looking up the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich, I came across the following information: On Thursday, you will be able to try the sandwich for yourself for free. Never say I didn’t do anything for you.
ETA: I forgot to say . . . the thing I find most bizarre is that McDonald’s is aping CFA now. You would think they would have tried this, oh, FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. What the heck?!
May 13th, 2008 at
I am totally on board with Mike. The Southern Style Chicken sandwich is a pale imitation of the Chick-Fil-A sandwich.
Though, it’s a proven fact that free food tastes 67% better than food that costs money.
May 13th, 2008 at
Ive actually had Chick-fli-a on a Sunday. This is not a well known fact. It tasted better on Sunday I must say.
And also, this doesnt make up for Jim or Swell Season.
May 14th, 2008 at
Chick-fil-a is Georgia’s gift to the world.
Mc’D’s has been selling this sandwich in the Atlanta market for about two years now. Everyone I know who’s had one has said it is NOWHERE near as good as CFA.
(I boycott anything “southern” at McD’s anyway, since their “Swayt Tee” commercials are so dang annoying. Use someone with a REAL southern accent!)
May 14th, 2008 at
I will probably try one of these - mostly because I have a coupon too - AND we don’t have any Chick-fil-A’s anywhere near here (so sad).
May 14th, 2008 at
i saw the commercial about the free sandwich during one of the basketball games the other night. it had all young people in it, like they were trying to appeal to a certain demographic. i think i’ll just go to CFA though, because i can get a really awesome milkshake there too.
May 15th, 2008 at
so we had to go to mc d’s the other day, because there were no other options. and i’ve seen the billboard, and also thought it was a cheap shot, but also wondered, “ok, is this thing good at all?” so i ask the girl at the counter, “is it close to cfa’s at all? i mean, how similar to theirs is it?” she was all, “i don’t eat chicken sandwiches.” uh, huh….sure. so, i choose to not get it because i know it will taste awful in my mouth in comparison to the “Original Chicken Sandwich”. but randy chose to try it. and i did take a bite. and i will not ever do that again. no one can compare to the chicken sandwich greatness of CFA. imposters, i tell you!
May 15th, 2008 at
Right on! I had the free (with drink purchase) biscuit for breakfast this morning. It’s edible, but that’s about as far as I’ll go. I will try the sandwich for lunch, but I suspect that will be the end of my experience with this chicken at McDonald’s. And, with their annoying billboards, they won’t be seeing me in there for anything else for a while, too.
I just posted about this on my blog as well.
May 16th, 2008 at
I have been beating myself up for missing the free chicken biscuit/sandwich with drink purchase offer yesterday (yes, it must be a nationwide promotion, because it was happening in Massachusetts too). Thanks to this post I can put remorse behind me and move on. Sounds like I didn’t miss much.