Burger King's Little Brat Digs Apple Fries. Do You?
Burger King has unveiled a new twist in its ad campaigns: Little King. So Good has some details. The Little King is the King's bratty offspring. He's quite a trip. The patty prince appears in commercials touting the chain's apple fries (video after the jump), which were introduced last year as part of push toward more kid-friendly meals.
I think I may have to hit the King soon; the girlfriend loves apple snacks and has expressed interest in these things. Any of you adults out there tried the apple fries? What are we in for? They appear to be fresh apples, cut into strips, served cold. Has it really gotten so bad that we have to entice kids to eat apples by cutting them into strips and making them look like french fries?
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14 Comments:
wow - that reminds me of 'Little Kings'
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/431/1298/
(is there some trademark violation here?)
GingerSnap at 6:49PM on 07/16/08
That commercial irritates me. Little brats won't eat apples unless they come from Burger King.
eatorama at 7:48PM on 07/16/08
I can't guarantee this but I'm 99% sure that apple fries aren't necessarily "fresh" in the most commonly understood context of the word. I used to work in R&D for a pretty big restaurant company and we tested some "fresh" apple products for kids that had so many additives in them that they kept, sliced in wedges, for the better part of a month. Even when they started to deteriorate and become slimy they still held their shape.
jt3_11 at 8:58PM on 07/16/08
Ugh. Nasty.
I live on the same block as a BK. I've been home sick, and with no other options, I went there yesterday.
I asked the MANAGER who was helping me, "what are apple fries?" He answers, "just what they sound like." Me: "so they are deep fried?" Him: "no."
Okay, whatever, I'll take those and a chicken sandwich.
They are cut up pieces of apple, in a plastic baggy, in a fry box with a tube of low fat caramel sauce.
The apple did not taste right. They must have been those big ugly red apples and they have an off taste. My dog got the majority of the "fries." I did like the caramel sauce, but not worth the $1.49.
churchka at 9:31PM on 07/16/08
The Big King gives me the heebie jeebies. The Little King is equally creepy, just in a smaller size. I can't stand these commercials.
And yes, it appears we have to start disguising healthy foods as junk foods before the majority of the public will be interested in eating them. How sad.
AuntJone at 9:37PM on 07/16/08
@jt omg what kind of chemical would be able to hold a sliced apple for a month? a regular old apple slice, even in acudulated water, won't hold long at all. so I guess what bk is selling is healthy food dressed up as junk food and made into actual junk food thru preservaties. and the terrible thing is that millions of parents are gonna fall for it.
sailordave at 10:45PM on 07/16/08
The question asked was whether "we have to entice kids to eat apples by cutting them into strips and making them look like french fries." While I have a lot of problems with the execution of this idea, I have none at all with the concept.
Since when is serving food in an unusual, interesting or amusing way, or in a way that "entices", a bad thing? We see pictures on SE every day of food made to look like something else. It's fun. Kids are more likely to want the apples if they're presented in a way that appeals to them.
KashaKnish at 7:47AM on 07/17/08
@KashaKnish - of course! Parents find ways of presenting foods in different ways to get their children interested. I remember when my daughter was 2, I put a variety of foods in an ice cube tray. She loved picking things out of the different compartments and eating them. And thus the Nibbler Tray was born!
The truth of it is that most kids will eat whatever you put in front of them at BK's, mostly because they want the toy. Considering how processed fast food french fries are (remember the thin Big Mac-lovin' guy from Supersize me who said he rarely ate the fries), if I had to pick the lesser of the two evils (and thankfully, I don't, because my child doesn't like fast food), I would give my child the apples that had been treated with ascorbic acid.
It's an option, and a lot of people who give their children fast food on a regular basis will avail themselves of it, at least part of the time. In the grand scheme of things, it's a good thing, I think.
LadyMarmalade at 10:31AM on 07/17/08
Also, since when is Macaroni and cheese healthy?
So Good at 11:14AM on 07/17/08
I'd want some questions answered before I fed them to my toddler granddaughter. If they are crisp, fresh and live in acidulated water ONLY, I would applaud BK.
I hate the commercial (the kid KICKED his father - how disturbing is that?) and it doesn't give us the info we need if it truly is a wonderful fresh way to present fruit to children. I will remain unimpressed, suspicious and wary until I learn otherwise.
PerkyMac at 11:19AM on 07/17/08
So how are they keeping these cut apples so white and pristine looking?
aharste at 12:24PM on 07/17/08
Do you think BK would dip the apples in batter, deep fry them and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar? Cause that's the only way I'm eating apples from Burger King. If I want an apple, I'll have an apple. Bring back McD's fried apple pies, haha!
erinlovestoeat at 2:27PM on 07/17/08
Erinlovestoeat figured out the apple fries - cutting them into "fries" takes an object like an apple, which anyone can buy several of for $1.50, and turns it into a "branded" product, that people will pay $1.50 for. (Same with potatoes, by the way, we're just a lot more used to them).
Think about the potato - how hard is it to cut a bunch up and fry them at home? Not very - but no company is going to make money off of a potato, because the production and transportation costs are just barely covered by the selling price (this is why you never see coupons for produce! There's not enough of a margin). So Ore-Ida comes along, and gets a few Urshel cutting machines and a deep fryer, and they take those potatoes and cut them up, slap a brand on them, and suddenly they can sell $1 worth of potatoes for $5, and make a much bigger profit than they would selling plain potatoes.
Unfortunately, natural products don't last in that cut up, branded state, so they have to add all sorts of chemicals to make them "shelf stable" - and we eat those chemicals every single day.
Of course it's healthier and cheaper to eat whole, real foods (like apples and potatoes) but we've been convinced over the last 25 or 30 years that cooking is for experts (like the chefs on Food Network), that it's too hard and it's a chore, so we pay a premium price to have other people and machines do the work for us, at the expense of our health and our budgets.
There's nothing inherently wrong with apple fries, or french fries, as long as one realizes that they're a convenience food, and not a Real Food, and eats them only in moderation. I hope no one would choose apple fries for $1.50 over an apple for $0.30, if there were a side by side choice. But there are no apples in the Drive-Thru... So it's not a side by side choice.
Fortunately grocery stores are trying to jump on the convenience bandwagon, but they're doing it with healthier, fresher food (because they have it available in a way that BK does not). So, at many stores, you can get cut up fresh fruit in the produce section that's ready to eat, or bagged salads with dressing and everything, or even soups and salad bars. One grocery store in my small town has a chicken wing buffet (?!?!?). I haven't quite figured that one out.
Hopefully, as grocery stores get more and more into convenience health foods, we'll start getting out of the drive thru and into the stores. Maybe the next step is to add a drive thru to the grocery store!
But apple fries is simply a way of taking a commodity, like an apple, and turning it into a Product, with a trademark and everything. It has nothing to do with "tricking" kids into eating fruit, and everything to do with "tricking" parents into being parted from their money.
Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com
amya413 at 8:24AM on 07/18/08
Oh wow...that IS pretty sad that we need to design apples to look like fries. The only justification for this I see is masking a "healthy" meal for kids to look like something from Burger King. I suppose I'll applaud the effort.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 12:52PM on 07/18/08