Double Down (KFC)
The Double Down is a product offered by Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). The Double Down contains "bacon, two different kinds of melted cheese, the Colonel’s secret sauce... pinched in between two pieces of Original Recipe chicken fillets."[1] It is also available with grilled chicken fillets instead of the Original Recipe fried fillets. The KFC Double Down was initially test marketed in Omaha, Nebraska and Providence, Rhode Island.[2] KFC describes the Double Down as a "sandwich" although it does not have bread. One Chicago Tribune writer categorically refused to call the Double Down a "sandwich," opting instead to call it a "meat-glorb."[3]
KFC announced the Double Down in an April Fools' Day press release,[4] and launched the item in the United States on April 12, 2010[5]. It has been promoted via billboards[6] and a TV commercial that says it has "so much 100-per-cent premium chicken, we didn't have room for a bun."
Although the Double Down has been widely ridiculed as unhealthy, NPR compared its calorie count favorably to that of McDonald's Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich. Both the grilled and fried Double Down products had nearly a full day's worth of sodium according to the American Heart Association's guidelines.[7] A Los Angeles Times reviewer pointed out that the grilled chicken Double Down has fewer calories than does the fried chicken Double Down (460 versus 540) but that the grilled chicken option has more sodium (1,430 mg versus 1,380). The L.A. Times article noted that either Double Down has fewer calories than does Burger King's TenderCrisp chicken sandwich, which has 800 calories.[8] A San Francisco Chronicle review described the Double Down as "truly disgusting."[9]
Originally a limited time offer that was supposed to end on May 23, 2010, KFC reversed course on May 19, 2010, stating that the sandwich would remain available indefinitely. The chain cited its popularity in overall sales, as well as videos of people eating the Double Down becoming a YouTube sensation, similar to that of the reaction videos to 2 Girls 1 Cup that flooded YouTube in 2007. Stephen Colbert even ate the sandwich on The Colbert Report, spurring the sandwich's popularity even more.[10]
External links
- "Double Down by the Numbers: Unhealthiest Sandwich Ever?". fivethirtyeight.com — Thorough analysis of the Double Down's nutrition facts compared with those of other fast food items
References
- ^ Katelin Paiz Breadless sandwiches go to extremes September 17, 2009 Daily Titan (Cal State Fullerton
- ^ Scott Gold The KFC Double Down: This Is Why the Terrorists Hate Our Freedom September 25, 2009 The Faster Times
- ^ First Bite: KFC's Double Down Sandwich
- ^ Wells, Jane (6 April 2010). "KFC's New Sandwich-What Would the Colonel Say?". CNBC.com. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Chen, Dalson (15 April 2010). "This sandwich lacks ... bread!". Windsor Star. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Rosemary Black KFC's new 'Double Down' sandwich swaps bun for two deep-fried chicken breasts, extra calories August 26th 2009 New York Daily News
- ^ The Nutritional Lowdown On KFC's Double Down
- ^ KFC's Double Down: A cheesy, sodium-filled sandwich -- will you be buying?
- ^ Morford, Mark (April 9, 2010). "One sandwich to kill you all". The San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-05-19-kfc-meaty-double-down_N.htm?csp=34