One fast-food chain really gives a cluck about table manners.
Select Chick-fil-A locations have implemented a reward system for families who go phone-free.
In an effort to encourage human connection over dining while doomscrolling, the fast-food chain is offering free ice cream to those willing to share a meal sans screens.
Brad Williams, who owns two Chick-fil-A restaurants in Georgia, was inspired to implement the dairy bribe after witnessing a mother of two spend an entire meal on her cell phone.
“It just got me thinking how to get people to disconnect in order to connect and to take a technology timeout,” Williams told ABC News.
In response, Williams created a “cell phone coop” for every table.
Decorated with chicken wire, the “coop” instructs patrons to set their phones to silent and surrender them to the coop. If the devices remain in the box for the duration of the meal, diners get a free ice cream dessert.
“We’re trying to slowly create rituals that create disciplines and will slowly create habits,” Williams said.
Since mid-January, when Williams placed the first coops in his Georgia locations, more than 10,000 have been made, and nearly 200 independent Chick-fil-A operators have co-opted the cell phone coop for their restaurants.
“It’s almost like we’re starting to create a no-cellphone zone,” he continued.
Williams shared that the impact of the cell phone coops has been obvious, immediate, and overwhelmingly positive
“There’s more conversation and chatter,” he said. “It’s hard to sit with your family and not do the challenge now.”
The coops are a kitchy spin on a long-standing effort to put civility and communion back on the menu.
In 2018, NYC’s Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park began offering diners little wooden boxes to place their cellphones in during meals. The idea, posted by chef/owner Daniel Humm on Instagram, is to encourage guests “to enjoy the company of those at the table and be just a bit more present with one another.”
Humm’s ethos is echoed by Williams, who hopes to provide diners with a side of connection and the opportunity to “Be present where your feet are.”
Experts maintain that eating without technology can help make meals more meaningful and diners less likely to overindulge.
A 2019 study found that people who ate while staring at their smartphones consumed, on average, 535 more calories than those who focused on their meals.
And Americans, in particular, are hard-pressed to break bread without tech.
A January 2018 study found that one in three Americans can’t eat a meal without being on their phone
And it seems the youth and the young-ish are most in need.
81% of Gen Z and 60% of millennials admit to scrolling on their phones while eating.
And the scrolling doesn’t end even if they are dining with someone: 25% of Gen Z and 23% of millennials confessed that they had ignored a dining partner to check their phones while chowing down.
Meanwhile, more than half of both generations have been “phubbed” — a trending term that appropriately mashes “phone” and “snub” — while eating with someone.
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