Chick-fil-A cellphone challenge aims to reclaim family mealtime
Step away from Instagram and reclaim the old fashioned family dinner time conversation.
That's the message many Chick-fil-A restaurants have already adopted, with the new Cell Phone Coop Challenge.
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Suwanee, Georgia, Chick-fil-A operator Brad Williams designed the "Cell Phone Coop," which is basically a box where everyone at the table puts his or her cell phones during mealtime.
He tells Inside Chick-fil-A, "As we all know, technology increasingly demands more of our time and can be a big distraction, even while we’re eating. This got me thinking about what we could do to reduce this distraction during meals.”
The rules of the challenge, printed on the side of the box, state:
Turn all family cell phones to silent and place in this cell phone coop.
Enjoy your Chick-fil-A meal and each other distraction free!
After the meal, let Chick-fil-A know that your family has successfully completed the challenge and each of you will receive a small Icedream cone.
The initiative has not yet become the restaurant's national policy, but over 150 independent outlets have chosen to participate.
Williams says, "We even have people asking to take the boxes home with them.”
Social media reactions have thus far been primarily positive.
Chick-fil-A has been at the center of controversy, including its associated charitable foundation WinShape's donations of large sums of money to efforts that thwart LGBT rights initiatives. However, with the cellphone coop, the cult chicken-sandwich emporium seems to have found itself at the center of a love fest.
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Topics Family & Parenting
Sarah Spigelman Richter is a contributor to Mashable's Food channel. Sarah covers everything edible, from the food industry to D.I.Y. recipes. She was previously the community manager for Tastemade NYC and her writing has been seen on The Today Show's food blog, Refinery 29, the Food Network, and Gothamist. She has also developed recipes for Tabasco and other nationally recognized brands and has blogged for 5 years at "Fritos and Foie Gras." Sarah is obsessed with "Orphan Black" and chili-cheese Fritos and is still depressed that Loehmann's closed.
