Burger King launched the return of its popular Chicken Fries on Monday, for a limited time, but the decision on which restaurants offer the item is being left in some cases to a hen named Gloria.
Chicken Fries last returned to Burger King’s menu in summer 2014 for a limited time.
“After a few months, fans had purchased them all,” the company said in a press release Monday. “Since then, executives for the Burger King brand have agonized over the decision of whether or not to bring them back. Starting today, Gloria, the unbiased bird, will make that tough call.”
Adrianna Lauricella, a spokeswoman for Burger King, said the hen started her journey Monday in the New York area. She will appear in New Jersey on Tuesday, according to the Chicken Fries microsite, which streams a live feed of Gloria’s choices.
“Gloria will make her way across the country, stopping at the Burger King restaurants nearby large contingencies of Chicken Fries fanatics,” Lauricella said in an email. “The tour locations will be revealed each day.”
Nine-piece Chicken Fries are sold with a variety of dipping sauces, including barbecue, Buffalo, honey mustard, ranch, sweet and sour, and Zesty. Lauricella said the recommended price is $2.89. The French-fry shaped strips of white-meat chicken were originally launched in 2005.
Besides the Chicken Fries microsite, Burger King is supporting the “Random Gloria” tour, where the chicken has her own truck and custom-designed coop, with social media, under the hashtags #RandomGloria and #ChickenFries.
“Chicken Fries enthusiasts are invited to come cheer on Gloria in person or watch the live stream,” the company said. “Each day, when she arrives with her expert handler, she will ascend from her plush coop onto her custom decision-making stage and randomly choose whether or not Chicken Fries will return to that Burger King restaurant.”
The yes-or-no decision can’t be swayed, the company added.
“She is her own chicken,” her handler Gail says in the video.
Burger King has a decade-long history of various viral chicken promotions, including the “Subservient Chicken” that was brought back briefly last May.
The 14,000-unit Burger King’s parent company was renamed Restaurant Brands International Inc. in January, after Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital bought Tim Hortons Inc. and moved Burger King’s headquarters to Oakville, Ontario, where Tim Hortons is based.
Together, Tim Hortons and Burger King have systemwide sales of $23 billion and more than 18,000 locations, making Restaurant Brands International the third-largest restaurant company in the world.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
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