The Food Revolution & KFC's Double Down

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Know what I'd like to eat with my meat? More meat." Kentucky Fried Chicken has just the thing for you. But first, let's go back to two important food movements that have taken place this year.

A little over two months ago, on February 9th, 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama launched a movement that she has stated to be her White House Legacy, the "Let's Move" campaign. Let's Move encourages better food education for parents and children, promotes physical activity in kid's daily lives, and importantly wants to ensure healthier food options in school cafeterias across America.

Also in February, activist and chef Jamie Oliver received the TED Prize at the TED convention in Longbeach, California. Oliver spoke on the pitfalls of American food culture and his desire to start "an all-out assault on our ignorance of food." Jamie, like the First Lady, is quickly building up support for his Food Revolution, helping many in America, especially kids, to start inquiring about where their food comes from and combating the very real epidemic of childhood obesity.

So, on April 12th 2010, two months after these two fairly large social movements hit the general public, KFC decided to unleash their newest diabolical creation, the "Double Down."

KFC's the Double Down

Just what is a Double Down?
It's a sandwich, but a sandwich that gets rid of that pesky, carb-loaded bread, instead replacing it with two pieces of breaded and fried (or grilled) chicken. Its purpose is to have you "taste the unHungry side of KFC." Between the layers are the Colonel's"secret sauce" (why so secret, colonel?), two types of cheese, and bacon. Because if you've already made to choice to eat fried chicken, what harm is a little bacon going to do?

The nutrition of the Double Down
Topping off at 53 grams of protein, the Double Down contains 71% of an adult's daily recommended dose of sodium. It's being promoted as containing a shockingly low 540 calories, (which is practically a reasonable number for a single meal, calorie-wise. Not factoring in the french fries...) Compared to Burger King's a longtime staple the single Whopper, with 670 calories, the Double Down seems to be a slightly better choice. (Especially compared with the meat-packing wonder, the Triple Whopper, clocking in at 1160 calories = heart attack city.)

What's more, KFC does give the protein seeking diner an option of grilling the chicken instead of the deep fryer. While this change of fry to grill saves (shockingly only) 80 calories, it also unexpectedly adds in 50 more milligrams of sodium. The grilled (code word for "healthier") option has a total of 1430 milligrams of sodium, or 95.3% of one's daily recommended dose of sodium. The MayoClinic's website recommends not exceeding "the range of 1,500 and 2,400 milligrams (mg) a day for healthy adults" and to "keep in mind that the lower your sodium, the more beneficial effect on blood pressure." But what do they know?

KFC, for its part, does dedicate a page up on its website called "Keep It Balanced." Their Keep it Balanced statement:

"We believe eating sensibly, combined with appropriate exercise, is the best solution for a healthy lifestyle. KFC offers a variety of menu items for those that want lower fat, lower calorie choices, including Tender Roast and Honey BBQ Sandwiches, corn on the cob, BBQ baked beans and green beans."

For obvious reasons, the Double Down is not mentioned here (or how I like to think of it, the 'double the sodium, down for the count.') While this statement does seem like a considerate and healthfully-minded gesture, in this day and age it would be actually kind of shocking if they didn't have some sort of a balanced diet campaign. KFC's partnership with eFit4me.com, an online and customizable resource helping signed-up users to make healthy eating choices as well as get into shape, feels like a step in the right direction. Efit4me's mission statement says that their primary goals are to "educate our users on how to change their fitness and nutrition behaviors as they work toward achieving enhanced lifelong health and wellness." Here's a educational tip that you don't even have to sign up for: maybe try to not eat so much at KFC. And perhaps you should steer clear of the Double Down. Just saying.

The eFit4me and KFC cooperative comes across as mainly strategic PR backpedaling and efforts to avoid an legal persecution, such as Pelman v. McDonald's Corporation and whether McDonald's was legally responsible for teenager Ashley Pelman's health problems caused by her obesity and the family's history of eating at McDs.

It's not news that there are some Americans who can't afford or don't have the time to not make eating at fast food places like KFC, a McDonald's, a Burger King a regular occurrence. The Double Down's commercials show men in their 20s and 30s, so it is mostly clear that the "sandwich" is not being targeted at children, which is decently good news and not totally at odds with combating childhood obesity. But will some kids still order it? Probably.

There are many who will even seek out this sandwich just for its sheer novelty, like its predecessors of Angus Bacon Burger at McD's and BK's Bacon Double Cheeseburger. At the end of the day, KFC's newest promotion is not only a missed opportunity to saddle up with two movements that will be hugely influential in the next coming years but also a step backward in terms of securing a place in the shifting world of fast food options. And that's something that will have a long memory in the collective American consciousness, if Oliver and the First Lady have anything to say about it.