13 Non-Food Innovations from Fast Food Chains

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13 Non-Food Innovations from Fast Food Chains

Usually when we think of “innovations” made by fast food chains, we think of some crazy new sauce (which is usually some spice added to some mayo). Maybe they even “innovate” an entirely new menu item like McDonald’s wings or spaghetti. We don’t tend to think of these speedy slop peddlers as modern age Thomas Edisons, but they tried, god bless ‘em. Anything to help hawk that product eh?! 

These gimmicks and innovations felt like the fast food company’s way of saying, “We know what our consumers want.” Sometimes they were right, and sometimes they were so incredibly wrong, but we started getting a little resentful that they continuously refer to us as consumers. Not guests. Not customers. Consumers. Solely there to house that shit. Which is true, but they don’t have to call us out like that. Over the years, they’ve offered all kinds of menu items and toys, but in these cases, they ventured a little too far out of the realm of “fast food.” In the highly competitive world of promotions, and the never-ending advancements in technology, here are 13 non-food innovations that fast food chains tried their hand in.

McDonald’s knows how you want to consume, America!

CRACKED THE MCDONALD'S MCCRISPY ULTIMATE GAMING CHAIR. McO McCr M ру 1 M - COMING McC 19 SOON McCroyy 19.10.22 Mc McC 5 M McC py McCripps py Mc ispy McD Bru McCr ру :eny McCrispy Snack and play simultaneously with grease-proof leather, a burger warmer, pillows for your neck and lower back, and two modular armrest extensions for holding your burger.

Dezeen

KFC… Just let the chicken be “finger lickin’ good”

CRACKED KFC'S EDIBLE CHICKEN-FLAVORED NAIL POLISH. IT'S FINGER LICKIN DE TS FINGER GOOD LICKIN GOOD DE Two flavors, Original Recipe and a bright orange Hot and Spicy, were introduced in 2016. To accentuate their finger lickin' good slogan, they instructed celebrities, bloggers, and social media stars in Hong Kong to lick their freshly painted nails.

Mashed

There was a drone strike at TGI Fridays.

CRACKED TGI FRIDAYS' MOBILE MISTLETOE DRONE. In December 2014, a mobile mistletoe drone hovered over patrons to initiate make outs in exchange for prizes. During a demonstration in Brooklyn, a photographer got hit in the face, causing cuts to her chin and the end of her nose to be chipped off.

ABC

This is how the machines take over.

CRACKED BURGER KING'S CHATBOT. MAKE IL a mean YES! Burger King bot BURGER 0 people like this KING NO Food/Beverages 12:16 PM Welcome to the BURGER KING® URGER ING restaurants! KING BURC KIN You selected Whopper® Combo Meal select location KING Type a message... hello In an attempt to connect with young consumers, BK's Facebook Messenger Bot is an Al chatbot that consumers could order from. Taco Bell got in on it with a TacoBot that took orders via the Slack chat app.

WERSM

Hmm, these pedometers aren’t nearly as popular as those Olaf toys.

CRACKED MCDONALD'S PEDOMETERS. STEP-iT STEP-iT STEP-iT STEP-iT STEP-iT STEP-iT These Step It pedometers found in Happy Meals were a feeble attempt to prove McDonald's cares about health. Maybe they just needed proof that kids don't care about their step or calorie count.

The Gamer

The only thing Burger King caught was wrongful death lawsuits.

CRACKED BURGER KING'S DEADLY POKEBALLS. BIG KiDS RIC AS Charltard To promote 1999's Pokemon: The First Movie, every kids' meal came with a Pokemon figurine in its own Pokeball. The detachable pieces formed airtight seals around children's noses and mouths, and actually killed two small children.

Vice

Sure, if everywhere else was booked up.

CRACKED KFC'S CANDLE-LIT TABLE SERVICE. KF For Valentine's Day in 2016, a UK KFC offered date-night table service with flowers, linen napkins, and a silver candelabra. A soft drink sommelier even helped couples pair the perfect soda for their chosen meal.

Mirror

Well honey, it happened. I lost my job to a robot.

CRACKED CARL'S JR. ROBOTS. COURSE Swapping servers for robots, tablets, and automated cubbies, Carl's Jr. CEO Andy Puzder said, The robots are always polite, always upsell, never take vacation, never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.

Eater

It’s my phone in a box!

CRACKED MCDONALD'S VR HEADSETS. Promoting it as a VR headset, McDonald's in Sweden had kids re-fold their Happy Meal box, put an iPhone inside of it, and view it with the kit's plastic lenses.

The Gamer

Nail polish wasn’t enough.

CRACKED KFC'S FASHION LINE. During British Fashion Week, designer Katie Eary and her team of 100 designers completed KFC's challenge to create a number of original garments in 1 hour. It was aimed at promoting their new KFC Ricebox.

HuffPost

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