The American polity has now gone from “a chicken in every pot and a car in every back yard” to a box of chicken in order to buy the gas for your car.
The fast-food chain Bojangles in early April was giving away $10 gift cards for gasoline with every purchase of a 12- or 20-count “family meal.” With the national average for a gallon exceeding $4 for weeks, that’s quite a promotion: Feed your family and get more than two gallons for “free.” For the record, the smaller of those two “meals” contains “12 pieces of boldly seasoned chicken, 6 made-from-scratch biscuits, 3 fixin’s and a 1/2 gallon of tea.” At the time of this writing, it costs $32.99, so the gasoline card represents, in effect, a 30% discount.
“Southerners are known for being friendly neighbors, so as a Southern brand, it’s in our DNA to want to help our customers who are feeling the pain of soaring gas prices,” said Jackie Woodward, the brand and marketing officer for the company. “We don’t want anyone to have to choose between enjoying a delicious meal with the family or buying gas, so let Bojangles help with both.”
In light of the song by Jerry Jeff Walker, this is a deal that could make Mr. Bojangles dance. And if you accept the Biden administration’s excuse for high gas prices (namely, that they are caused by the war in Ukraine), then this is “Chicken-making-up-for Kyiv.” Maybe that’s too much, but at least this is one time that nobody will mind if a meal of fried chicken gives them gas.
