As a matter of helping people spend time together without their phones being a distraction, Chick-fil-A restaurants are giving free ice cream to families or friends who can put their phones down during dinner time, as the company said on Tuesday.
Chick-fil-A is encouraging its customers to spend more time sharing with people rather than using phones during dinner. The fast-food restaurant has launched a challenge that promises a small free ice cream cone for each person who puts its phone in silence mode and deposits it in a box placed at each table called the “cell phone coop” during the entire meal.
On average, Americans spend 4.7 hours per day on their phones according to a 2015 Informate Mobile Intelligence study, Chick-fil-A explained in its announcement. Phones were created to bring us closer together but they are also doing the exact opposite thing. This amount of time keeps people from sharing with the person they have in front of them.
“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,” Brad Williams, Chick-fil-A operator in Georgia and the creator of the cell phone coop said at Chick-fil-A announcement. “But as we all know, technology increasingly demands more of our time and can be a big distraction, even while we’re eating.”
A complete success
This challenge has effectively caused an impact on people. Williams explained that there have been families who could not make it the first time bu came back to try again. Some others have asked to take the boxes home with them.
The initiative is not yet available at all Chick-fil-A restaurants across the US, but more than 150 locally owned of the restaurants are encouraging customers to take the Cell Phone Coop challenge and many others are requesting the box to place them in their locals.
Source: Inside Chick-fil-A