Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

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June 3, 1:07 PM

by Joe Schatz, Parenting Examiner

 

 

Has anyone noticed the new ad campaign McDonald’s has been running?  You know the one on all the billboards and commercials?  I’m talking about the Southern- Style Chicken campaign. McDonald’s has just gone nationwide with two new products: The Southern-Style Chicken Sandwich, and the Southern-Style Chicken Biscuit. 

Anyone notice something strange about these products?  Do they remind you of another line of products perhaps?  What McDonald’s has done here is try to duplicate the incredibly tasty products from Chick-Fil-A.  For years Chick-Fil-A has been gobbling up market share in the competitive fast food industry, but now McDonald’s is striking back—albeit with an inferior product.  As you can imagine, a huge Chick-Fil-A enthusiast like me would only find these ads to be outrageous.  To get answers I went straight to the source—my local Chick-Fil-A.  Unfortunately for me, the local Chick-Fil-A is about twenty minutes away, but easily worth the time it takes to get there. 

Why Eat at Chick-Fil-A:

Now, if you aren’t accustomed to going to a fast food eatery that prides itself on service—stay away.  Chick-Fil-A will be a culture shock.  When you go into a Chick-Fil-A you will first notice, “Hey, it’s clean in here.”  Next, you’ll receive fast and friendly service—wha-wha-what!  Finally, their play-places aren’t towering urine depositories, but rather clean, functioning moderately sized playgrounds.  What about the food?  The food is now almost an afterthought.  The food is hot, fresh and really, really good.  It is the kind of good that you start salivating for when you’re a block away.  Also, when you are at a Chick-Fil-A, employees actually come up to your table and ask, “Would you like a refill?” or “Are you finished with that?”  It’s like they actually care.  Weird, right?  So, if you haven’t been to a Chick-Fil-A, be ready for good service—it may actually surprise you. 

The Staff:

Back to the Southern-Style Chicken Sandwic h (SSCS), on my most recent visit to Chick-Fil-A I waited for an employee to come over to my table and ask me if I needed a refill so I could get their candid thoughts on the SSCS.  Predictably, an employee came over and when I asked them the question, “What are your thoughts on the SSCS?” they said they hadn’t tried it but they could send the Marketing Manager over to talk to me.  A few moments later a very friendly woman began talking to me about the SSCS and thought it may be best if I talked to the owner directly.  In about 5 minutes I had scaled the Chick-Fil-A scale of hierarchy.  I was impressed by how prompt, polite and engaging each of the staff members were—they all had time to talk me.  When the owner came over I told him that I was a blogger.  I told him I wanted to get some reaction to McDonald’s campaign from those who work at Chick-Fil-A and he, of course, agreed.

The Interview:

The owner was passionate about Chick-Fil-A and had a great deal to offer about the SSCS from McDonald’s.  When I began to ask him for his thoughts on the topic I got a veritable Chick-Fil-A history lesson in return that helped me understand the issue at hand.  First, If you don’t know anything about Chick-Fil-A, know this--their birthplace is in Atlanta, Georgia.  Chick-Fil-A’s in the Atlanta area actually outnumber McGreasy’s, and the success of Chick-Fil-A’s in this region sent McCopy’s scrabbling for answers.  Over the course of the last 2-3 years, the Atlanta area McStealYourIdea’s have been featuring the “SSCS’s” on their menus to test out the idea and the product.  This, of course, lead to the nationwide campaign we see today.  From a cursory glance it would appear that the sandwiches are very similar; the buns look eerily alike, they both have pickles, and comparable chicken.  Looks, however, can be deceiving. 

The Taste Facts:

The Taste Test:

My wife and I purchased a SSCS from McDonald’s to see how it tasted and we both agreed that the knock off was lacking in many areas.  First, the bun was clearly just flash-heated somehow making it a soggy mess.  The chicken was, at best, imitation Chick-Fil-A.  I found the chicken to be tougher, less tasty and the breading to be messier and a complete and utter disappointment.  I am not a pickle guy, so I avoided them in our testing, but my wife found them to be oddly different than Chick-Fil-A’s.  Overall grade for McDonald’s a D-.

Other Chick-Fil-A Items Being Imitated:

Has Chick-Fil-A been copied before?  Yes.  McDonald’s came out with sweet tea in Styrofoam cups  in a blatant attempt to copy Chick-Fil-A who has been offering sweet tea in just that fashion for years.  Wendy’s, not to be left out, recently came out with a line of “hand spun” milkshakes.  If you have been to Chick-Fil-A you are no doubt somewhat addicted to their “hand spun” shakes and probably find Wendy’s attempt to duplicate them laughable at best.  

Candid Thoughts:

When I asked the Owner of my local Chick-Fil-A what he thought about the SSCS campaign he said, “What McDonald’s failed to realize is that (the sandwich) is not why people eat at Chick-Fil-A.”  I asked him to explain why people eat at Chick-Fil-A and he replied, “Service.  They (McDonald’s) can try to copy our food but they can’t copy our service.”  What about all the money McDonald’s is sinking into this ad campaign?  Do you think this is going to take away from your business?  “Not at all.  McDonald’s is spending millions and millions on advertising only to promote Chick-Fil-A.”  In other words, people are smart enough to see through what McDonald’s is doing and for those folks who haven’t tried Chick-Fil-A, this ad campaign will simply give Chick-Fil-A greater exposure in the long run.  Bottom line, I predict the new ad campaign from McDonald’s will only help Chick-Fil-A.  Folks will have to suffer through inconsistent service at McDonald’s to get a second rate product which will only lead them to Chick-Fil-A where they know they can get the goods. 

For more from this Examiner you can check out his blog here.

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