Why Are Americans Obsessed with KFC's Double Down Sandwich?

by Katherine Gustafson · 2010-05-21 09:00:00 UTC
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I'm no super health nut, but a sandwich made of two pieces of fried chicken with bacon and cheese in between? Really, America, we're actually substituting bread for slabs of fried chicken? KFC's Double Down is a heart attack in a paper bag. As fellow blogger Tara Lohan asked, "Is KFC trying to kill us?"

But apparently my disdain for the Double Down is not the country's reigning sentiment. In the six weeks the Double Down has been available, KFC sold almost 10 million of the meatwiches at about $5 a pop. ABC News reports that the company is extending the Double Down's run (which was supposed to end on Sunday) for as long as customers remain enthusiastic about it.

What a crazy nation we live in! Does it seems strange to anyone else that at the same time we have mounting concern over America's obesity epidemic and a widespread interest in food issues, we also have the most absurdly unhealthy fast food item anyone's ever seen? I think it's the "screw it!" mentality, carried over from teenagerhood; if the authorities say we should all be eating healthier, that's exactly what people will NOT want to do.

And of course there are other factors fueling the Double Down's surprising success. The Double Down became a viral sensation on the Web. And we can't forget America's unending love affair with such fried delicacies as deep-fried butter, deep-friend Twinkies and chicken-fried bacon. Slap on top of that an ad campaign that plays up the macho image of meat-loving men — complete with a guy pointing at the camera and saying "you da man!" — and you've got a recipe for 10 million customers knocking down your door.

Photo: kslee via Flickr

Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations.

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