With Fourth of July weekend a few days away, fast-food chains are tapping into the spirit with promotions inspired by the grill and "red, white and blue" flavors.
In past years, we have seen everything from patriotic donuts from Krispy Kreme (DNUT) to the Red, White and Blue Freeze from Yum! Brands (YUM)-owned Taco Bell.
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This summer, fellow Yum! brand Kentucky Fried Chicken is the latest big name to tap into the celebratory spirit. From July 3, KFC locations across the country will start selling the Ultimate BBQ Fried Chicken Sandwich.
Kentucky Fried Chicken
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The new menu item will feature the chain's signature breaded fried chicken with smoked bacon, pickles, cheese, fried onion strings and tangy honey barbecue sauce in between two pieces of brioche bun. While launched for Fourth of July, it will be available until August 13 or whenever supplies run out.
"Just like summer, this sandwich is only here for a good time, not a long time, so hurry up to snag this ULTIMATE summer sandwich," KFC said in its announcement for the sandwich that it also calls "BBQ in every bite."
Along with the new sandwich, KFC is launching a new blackberry lemonade as well as a $20 Fill Up Box that gets one four pieces of chicken, 12 Fried Chicken nuggets, fries, four biscuits and a choice of dipping sauces for the combo price.
To promote the new items, the chain is also giving those who order them on through its mobile app or on kfc.com from July 3 to July 9 free delivery as well as the chance to win a trip for two to Aruba. Anyone who buys the chicken sandwich online will receive a link to enter the sweepstakes while 500 people will also win a membership to Going (in the same announcement, KFC said that it is partnering with the flight discount platform.)
KFC's New Menu Items Taps Into Another Viral Fast Food Trend
The Ultimate BBQ Sandwich also taps into another viral trend that began in 2019 when Restaurant Brands International (QSR) brand Popeyes inadvertently started the "chicken sandwich wars" with its new fried chicken sandwich.
While chains like KFC and Chick-fil-A have served fried chicken between pieces of bread for a lot longer, the unexpected virality of the item has prompted both longtime industry players and even more distant chains like Starbucks (SBUX) to frantically try to replicate Popeyes' success with their own versions.
While there were some talks that the market has had its fill of fried chicken sandwiches four years later, the trend seems to have only dipped before coming back full force again -- fellow Restaurant Brands chain Burger King just brought back its Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich for another go while Popeyes has over the last year been trying to recenter itself in the discussion with LTOs like the Blackened Cajun Sandwich and Bacon & Cheese Chicken Sandwich.
Industry publication Nation's Restaurant News has also suggested that we "may be in a second phase of the so-called chicken sandwich wars" as the trend "continue[s] to evolve since those initial launches."
Even notoriously menu-conservative McDonald's (MCD) has joined the game with the newly-coined McChicken and McCrispy sandwiches.
