Chick-fil-A wants you to put away your cellphone and is offering a free ice cream to anyone able to go the whole meal without picking up their mobile devices.
Called the Cell Phone Coop Challenge, customers get a white box with wire-like designs that holds the whole family's electronics (not chickens), so diners can enjoy their waffle fries without distractions.
Chick-fil-A Tuesday say it's not a nationwide thing yet, but more than 150 locations are already offering the challenge while others are calling up the corporate office "requesting the Cell Phone Coops."
Brad Williams, a Chick-fil-A operator in Suwanee, Georgia, who is responsible for the idea, said that Americans spend an average of 4.7 hours per day on their cellphone.
“We really want our restaurant to provide a sense of community for our customers, where family and friends can come together and share quality time with one another,” said Williams. “But 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.”
Restaurants nationwide have been giving discounts and incentives to consumers who pledge to go cellphone free during their meal. Free ice cream is nice, so long as people don't feel compelled to post it on their Instagram account.