Burger King Customers Prefer More Fat With Their Fries

Less-than-satisfying sales of Satisfries have led Burger King to pull its lower-calorie French fries from two-thirds of its restaurants.

The fast-food giant sold about 100 million Satisfries in the one year they were on the Burger King menu, CNN Money said. The fries were advertised as having 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than fries from BK’s age-old rival, McDonald’s.

Just 2,500 of the 7,400 BK restaurants in the U.S. and Canada will still offer the low-cal fries.

According to The Huffington Post, Satisfries weren’t well-received.

The name was mocked in some corners, with one website referring to them as “Saddest Fries.” There also is some confusion about their caloric superiority, with a small order still containing 270 calories. A small order of McDonald’s fries, by comparison, has 230 calories because the serving weighs less.

Satisfries also cost more than regular fries: $1.89 for a small order, compared with $1.59 for regular fries, HuffPo said.

In other “fry” news, Burger King is reintroducing its chicken fries after a two-year hiatus. According to a company press release:

Sparked by an overwhelming number of enthusiastic tweets, Change.org petitions, dedicated Tumblr and Facebook pages and phone calls from devoted fans, these voices are the reason this cult favorite menu item is back. Since Chicken Fries were taken off the Burger King menu in 2012, the ongoing guest outcries reached a point where they could no longer be ignored.

I don’t have a Burger King in my town, so I wasn’t even aware they had a low-cal fry alternative. But one of our fast-food restaurants offered baked, instead of fried, chicken for a while. It was really good, but it didn’t go over well, so it was pulled from the menu.

I don’t think most people worry too much about calories when they’re eating fast food. If you’re a calorie counter, I’m guessing fast food isn’t high on your list of eating establishments.

Did you try BK’s low-cal fries? When it comes to purchasing fast food, are calories important to you? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.