Original Chicken Sandwich

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Original Chicken sandwich
Serving size 1 sandwich (219 g)
Calories 660
Total fat 31 g ( %)
Saturated fat 8 g ( %)
Trans fat 2.5 g
Cholesterol 70 mg ( %)
Sodium 1440 mg ( %)
Total carbohydrate 52 g ( 3%)
Dietary fiber 4g ( %)
Sugars 5 g
Protein 24 g
Source www.BK.com (PDF)
Notes May vary outside US market. US % Daily Value based on 2000 calorie diet.

The Original Chicken Sandwich is a chicken sandwich sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. It is the "basic" chicken sandwich sold at Burger King.

Contents

[edit] Product Description

The Original Chicken sandwich consists of a breaded, deep-fried white-meat chicken patty with mayonnaise and lettuce on a sesame seed sub-style bun.

[edit] Variants

Regional, limited time offerings (LTO) and discontinued varieties:

Aliases/International naming

  • The American Chicken Sandwich was also called the Chicken Deluxe.
  • In Turkey and most of Europe the Original Chicken is called the Chicken Royale.
  • In Italy, the Chicken Club variation is called the Chicken Royale Deluxe.
  • In Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria it is called the Long Chicken sandwich.
  • In Mexico, El Salvador, Argentina and Chile it is called the King de Pollo (King of Chicken).
  • In New Zealand it is called the BK Chicken.

[edit] Related products

  • The ham and cheese sandwich - 4 pieces of ham, 2 slices of American cheese, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato and served on the same sub-style roll.
    Sold in the US as an optional product and sold in El Salvador as a regular menu item called the King de Jambon con Queso.
  • The X-tra Long cheese or Limo burger - 3 hamburger patties, 2 slices of American cheese, pickles, ketchup and mustard and served on the same sub-style roll.
    Sold in Europe and El Salvador

[edit] History

The Original Chicken chicken was introduced in 1978 as part of BKs "Specialty Sandwich" line.[2] The products were some of the first by the company to attempt to capture the adult-oriented market, members of which would be willing spend more on a higher quality product.[3] The sandwiches were a part of a plan by the then-company president Donald Smith to expand Burger King's menu to reach the broadest demographic in order to better compete with McDonald's and fend off Wendy's growing market share. The plan was successful and the company's sales increased by 15%.[4]

The other "Specialty Sandwiches" were:

LTO variants:

  • A grilled meatloaf sandwich with ketchup and onions;
  • A grilled Italian sausage patty sandwich served in one of three ways: with onions & peppers, parmigiana style with mozzarella cheese & marinara sauce or all four ingredients.
  • The Bull's-Eye Barbecue sandwich included two hamburger patties, American cheese, 4 half pieces of bacon and Kraft Bull's-eye brand barbecue sauce. Another variant of this sandwich called the BBQ Hero added lettuce, tomato and onions.[1]

All sandwiches were served on the same style 7" sesame seed roll.

The Long Fish was eventually discontinued and replaced with the Whaler sandwich and the Steak Burger sandwich was discontinued all together, although two different steak sandwiches made from steak fillets or restructured beef were introduced as limited time offerings. The ham and cheese sandwich replaced an earlier version ham and cheese sandwich called the Yumbo that was served hot and was the size of a hamburger.[1]

[edit] Advertising

One of the promotions used when the Specialty products were first introduced was a scratch card game called What's my Specialty? Customers would get a card and would have to match famous people with their profession. The commercial explained that if you expected to lose, you would be disappointed, as all cards were winners. Prizes included fries, sodas and sandwiches. The Meatloaf sandwich was part of the BK Dinner Baskets and promoted as part of the BK Tee Vee ad campaigns.

In the autumn and winter of 2007 BK advertised the Italian Chicken sandwich with a commercial that played the "Have it your Way" theme on an accordion with a simple text insert that asked the consumer if they had a problem with the sandwich being sold only at BK. This insert played up the Italian "toughguy" stereotypes.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Peter J. Romero (1988-08-11). Chicken Internationals take Burger King test. Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. “Burger King is testing a new line of sandwiches called Chicken Internationals, each consisting of a chicken fillet topped with cheese.”
  2. ^ In Student's Encyclopædia (2007). Burger King Corporation. Britannica Student Encyclopædia. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  3. ^ John A. Jakle; Keith A. Sculle (1999). Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age, Douglas Pappas, JHU Press, 119. ISBN 080186920X. “To appeal to the growing adult market, "Specialty Sandwiches" were introduced, including chicken, fish and ham and cheese.” 
  4. ^ a b c d e f FundingUniverse.com. History of Burger King Corporation. Answers.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.

[edit] See also

Similar types of chicken sandwiches by other vendors: