The KFC Double Down Is Killing America! (Or Is It?)
Remember the much-maligned KFC bowl? I admit I got on the “ew, gross” bandwagon, because eating KFC makes me feel nauseous for two days. (I used to forget and eat at KFC approximately once a year. No longer.) Now there’s more hoopla with the release of the Double Down, two pieces of fried chicken filled with bacon, cheese, and mayo.
Here’s an overview from the New York Times.
Advance reaction to the Double Down has been intense in the blogosphere, in part because the sandwich plays into our worst fears about Obese America, a nation in which we disdain not simply vegetables but now starch as well. The sandwich posits chicken as bread. Bacon and cheese as sandwich fillers. Plus mayonnaise. No vegetables…
But for the record? The calorie count for the Double Down is 540, according to KFC. That’s exactly equivalent to a Big Mac over at McDonald’s, and well below the 920 that constitutes a Double Whopper at Burger King.
And a taste test from Salon.
But the Double Down, and everybody’s peeking-through-covered-eyes reaction to it, is not about logic. It’s about balls. The balls of a fast food chain, in the middle of rational America’s hand-wringing about obesity and sustainable eating, to come out with a sandwich made of bacon, cheese, mayo-ish sauce and two slabs of fried chicken as the bread. The balls of KFC, which, in the weak-willed ’90s, changed its brand from Kentucky Fried Chicken to its lame initials because it didn’t want you to have to say the word “fried” every time you spoke its name.
In retrospect, though, the really funny thing about the Double Down is not that it exists, not that it’s a dare pretending to be a lunch, but that it would be nothing special if they added a bun to it. Think about it. It’d be like, “What’s that? A double chicken sandwich? Pffft. Snooze. Any jackass can make a double chicken sandwich.” Somehow, by taking off the processed-food bread, KFC made this thing look deadly.
Ha! Good point.
And a do-it-yourself alternative (link swiped from Eric on Facebook) that looks pretty awesome.
Most of the panty-twisting revolves around its nutritional qualities. But is it really that bad for you? After all, conceptually and nutritionally, it’s no different than a Chicken Cordon Bleu, right? Is there no room in our diet for fried chicken or bacon?
To me, the grossness of this sandwich is the same as what’s gross about all fast food: convenience and quality. It’s simply too easy to walk up to a window, hand over five bucks, and get 600 industrially produced calories prepared by a worker who couldn’t care less.
I admit that I will never go to KFC, but a fried chicken sandwich from Bakesale Betty’s is, every so often, delicious.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Food
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My first thought upon hearing this was “Isn’t that just ghetto Cordon Bleu?” I don’t really like KFC ‘classic’ fried chicken but I’ll admit I do enjoy some of their sides and despite what people have to say about the KFC “Famous Bowls” they are hella tasty- but make them at home for a healthier choice.
Not everyone likes things mixed together but I think it’s great.
“Any jackass can make a double-chicken sandwich,” that’s hilarious! You know, if I’m gonna eat fried chicken it’s gonna be my grandmother’s awesome fried chicken, and I don’t think twice about eating it. Is my grandma trying to kill me? No, not since I was a child. If you’re gonna eat fried food, make sure it’s fabulous, delicious, awesomely prepared fried food, and enjoy every damn bite, that’s what I say!
FiveThirtyEight.com crunched the numbers, it’s not as bad for you as a lot of the normal items on the fast food menus.
Ooh, Mary Sue, thanks for the link, that’s cool!
When I saw the nutritional information for it, I admit to be a little surprised at how little fat and calories it had. The sodium content made my eyes bug out but I’m sure it’s on par with most other fast food meals. I’m sure “they” will be shocked to learn teh fatties aren’t clamoring over themselves to get their hands on it.
I blogged about this last week. Not surprisingly, the new commercial for the Double Down only features men, so KFC is aiming the sandwich towards their male patrons. I guess us gals aren’t “strong” enough to handle eating it. But it’s not something I’d be munching on. Chicken and melted cheese together is not friendly on my stomach.
“Ghetto Cordon Bleu” is really funny.
I do find it slightly ironic that you can buy a bucket of fried chicken now and money will be donated to cure breast cancer.
We stopped eating at KFC because it was expensive, fried chicken is expensive. I recently learned how to make “healthy” chicken fingers, fish sticks, and anything else I can dredge in egg whites.
I didn’t really understand much of the hoopla. I’ve known thin and fat people who would regularly eat two chicken breasts for a meal, fried or not.
Also, in my not too distant past I was an obsessive calorie counter and know the calories for lots of different fast foods and knew off the top of my head that 540 calories isn’t a lot for a fast food sandwich.
Yeah, not so sure about the validity of that 580.
Guy at my job was “dared” to eat 5 of them. He made it through 4, and couldn’t continue. He asked if I wanted the extra sandwich. I took a pinch of it between two fingers to try it first, and I couldn’t make myself eat it. The grease literally ran down and around my arm, from just that little pinch of food. I put the sample bite back in the box. Seriously, it was nasty. Blech.
KFC scares me. I got some of their grilled chicken to try and some of it was raw. I’m not surprised eating their would make you sick.
Is anyone else reminded of Tracy Jordan’s Meat Machine from ’30 Rock’? MEAT. IT’S THE NEW BREAD.
I think we should worry less about if “kfc is killing (north) america” but more about the fact that this is just another hypocritical move in the (government regulated) food industry that tells you not to be fat but sells you completely nutritionally empty 600 calorie blobs for 5 bucks while fruits and veggies are prohibitively expensive.
I started reading your post horrified by the concept… by the end I wanted to go taste one.
I have issues clearly or at the very least a very strange sentimental attachment to chicken cordon bleue… oh cafeteria food…
I think we should worry less about the food industry and more about the level of nutritional ignorance that calls two chicken breasts and a couple of slices of cheese “completely nutritionally empty”, myself.
Just reading about the Double-Down makes my stomach churn. Oof. Too much fried in one spot.
Has there ever been a nutriously sound food item on a fast food menu? No, then why is anyone surprised about this one.
Did you know that a large Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Milkshake from Baskin-Robbins contains 1690 calories, 72g of total fat, and 46g of saturated fat? That’s a complete day worth of calories for most and 2 days of saturated fat in just one cup. KFC’s double down sandwich is peanuts compared to that. There are also more food items that post over 1000 calories:
http://www.noshtopia.com/2008/04/the-1000-calori.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-24/the-40-deadliest-fast-food-meals/#gallery=1456;page=1
I hate it when people feign disgust over certain fast food items, when collectively fast food choices are all bad (even the salads). People (men and women) would be better off, learning how to cook and eating at home. Home cooked meals are more satisfying than anything you can pick up or take out. The more satisfied you are the less you’ll eat. Saving you calories in the long run.
Looks kinda gross. Eliminate one chicken breast and add a bun and I’m in. I think the bun is usually my favorite part, though.
I read this post and had to go try one of these. It was…well…good! I’m not saying I’ll be indulging in these for lunch and dinner, but I normally don’t like KFC and was somewhat impressed.
My husband tried one of these the other day. He LOVED it. I just can’t get over the idea of eating that much meat – and mayo – at once.
Blech, greasy and gross. On a completely different note, I always get a chuckle out of somebody using the word, “balls” to show power. Balls don’t hold a light to the abilities and workings of the vajayjay. I’d say KFC has got the vajayjay to put something like this out. XP
KFC is LOVING this!!!! I’m not gonna try it. It looks seriously gross AND I don’t want to give KFC any of my hard-earned cash.
Very rarely was I permitted to eat fast food as a child. Because it was prohibited, I always wanted it.
Always.
Nowadays, however, since I’m able to buy my own food and whatnot, I never want it. (Chic-Fil-A being the only exception, because OMG it is yum. And served by good Christians, as my mother would say)
I don’t think I ever had any KFC until I was 19. Which was last year. And I was unimpressed. I just remember it being very greasy and very messy (in a bad way).
I am intrigued by the DIY alternative (Double Down Throwdown), though. I may try that.
Well… I won’t be trying one of these since I had my gallbladder about about 5 years ago, and greasy foods don’t agree with me.
HOWEVER, from the economic perspective, there are many restaurants that buck the OMG OBESITY EPIDEMIC trend and come out with this kind of an option and target it to men. These are restaurants like Wendy’s, Hardee’s, and so on. It has been an economically successful ploy (which is why they do it — they can make money at it).
I have a copy of Portfolio magazine (a great, but now defunct, investing magazine) that talks about this trend. Interestingly, they viewed their key target segment as younger males. They wanted to get them in the restaurants. In order to do that, they have to have an appealing product AS WELL AS something that a wife or girlfriend “can eat”, since she often drives the restaurant selection if they are out together. So… They have the salads, but the primary target and demographic is the young male. He will readily spend around $6 for one of the huge burgers or a double-down. It works very well for them.
In fact, for full disclosure, in early 2008 I bought a few shares of stock in a restaurant chain that does this. Why? I was reading out loud to my husband and a male friend the Portfolio magazine article, laughing and snarking at the nutritional content. Now, we’re all middle aged with all of the issues that strike us in that time of life – BP, Cholesterol, etc. So… I assumed I would be joined in my snark.
Well, I was wrong. Very wrong. I heard a couple of groans, and both of them looked like a couple of dogs staring at a pot roast. They were salivating. They looked like the thought of such a sandwich was a slice of the beatific vision of heaven.
The next trading day, I researched the stock and liked it. I placed an order for some shares. Took a bit of a beating in the recession, but it is doing pretty well all things considered! I thank my husband and friend all the time for their salivary glands’ investment advice.
–Andy Jo–