National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day Arrived, and Every Chain Wants Your App First

Today, November 9, is National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day, and more than a thousand Americans went to Google this morning to find out where the free food was. I respect that. In a country this divided, it's nice to see people come together over something important, like a coupon.

Here's what's out there. KFC is giving a free chicken sandwich with an online order of $10 or more through its rewards account. Buffalo Wild Wings has a free one with a $10 purchase for rewards members. McDonald's is offering a $2 McCrispy in its app. Whataburger has a $2 chicken sandwich for its rewards members, Jollibee is doing buy one get one for rewards members, and Burger King has a free sandwich with a qualifying meal. You'll notice a theme. The sandwich is free. You are not.

Every one of these deals asks you to download an app, make an account and agree to let a fried chicken company know where you are at all times. The sandwich costs a few dollars. Your location data, your birthday and your phone number are worth a good deal more than that to the people collecting them. It's the oldest swindle there is: the fellow offers you a free drink, and you wake up three days later in a different state with a loyalty card.

This whole holiday, mind you, is the leftover glow from the Great Chicken Sandwich War of 2019. Popeyes launched its sandwich that August, sold out in about two weeks, then brought it back on Sunday, November 3, and made a point of mentioning it was open on Sundays, which was aimed, with all the subtlety of a brick, at a certain rival known for closing that day. Americans lined up around buildings. Grown adults wrote reviews of a sandwich like it was a Broadway opening. Seven years later the war has become a holiday, which is how it goes with most wars, eventually.

I'll take the free sandwich. I'm not proud. But I'll know what I paid for it. When a corporation gives you something for nothing, it's because you are the something.