Recently, towards the end of March, Chick-fil-A implemented an idea to bring families together. They came up with the Cell Phone Coop Challenge, where anyone who wants to participate puts their phones in a coop while they eat. The point of this is to bring families together and encourage them to have intimate conversations while they eat. Chick-fil-A gives freebies, like an ice cream cone, to the families who complete this challenge.
Brayden McIntosh (10), who has seen the Phone Coop Challenge at Chick-fil-A, has seen the positives and negatives of this challenge. “I think a lot of people will, but I feel like they’re not gonna participate for their family; they’re gonna participate for the free ice cream or whatever you get at the end of it,” McIntosh said. “I feel like it’s going to make people not be on their phones as much when eating out with their family, but I don’t really think it’s gonna do much because I don’t think people eat at Chick-fil-A enough for it to have an impact on them.”
McIntosh is a fan of the idea, even if it was done without a reward. “It promotes family and togetherness, instead of just being on your phone all the time,” McIntosh said. “It’s definitely a good idea, and I think more restaurants should do it.”
Similar to McIntosh, Sophia Woods (9) believes that the new Phone Coop Challenge can bring families and friends together because they won’t be distracted by a phone. “It could be useful to get families together and to talk to one another instead of hanging out on their phones,” Woods said. “They’ll be less likely to be on their phone. They’ll have more time to socialize.”
Woods would participate in the challenge. “I think I would because my family would want me to get off my phone while I’m eating,” Woods said.
Angela Jacobsen, an employee at Chick-fil-A, really enjoys the atmosphere because people seem more happy and talkative. “I think it’s great. It brings families together, instead of staring at a screen, it actually creates a memory with people,” Jacobsen said. “People are actually talking and laughing and having conversations with each other.”
Jacobsen also wants to keep this challenge going because it brings people together. “I think it’s going to bring people closer together,” Jacobsen said. “It’s fantastic that their gaze is taken off electronics and onto each other.”
Jacobsen noticed that more of the younger crowds don’t participate. Instead, the families are more involved. “Moms and dads with their kids participate,” Jacobsen said. “Teenagers, not so much.”
Xavier House (12), another employee at Chick-fil-A, believes that this challenge is a way to distract yourself from your electronics. “It’s just like a way to make meals more interactive and get people off their technology,” House said. “I think it’s a creative idea to keep guests off their phone in order to get in conversations with the other people they’re sitting with instead of just looking at their phone.”
There are a few changes that Mclntosh would make due to the concerns of possibly getting your phone stolen if he ever did work at Chick-fil-A. “I think it’s good to have the phones locked up until you finish, and then have a worker come in to get them out for you,” McIntosh said. “I would probably change it so there’s multiple boxes so people don’t try and steal other people’s phones.”
This new challenge could possibly become a new thing for restaurants. McIntosh feels that this challenge was a good idea but people shouldn’t be motivated to do it because there is a prize. “I feel like there shouldn’t be a reward for doing it,” McIntosh said. “It’s so crazy that people can’t stay off their phones while they eat with their family.”
