Burger King Kids’ Meal Gets Low-Calorie Makeover

Burger King plans on reducing the total calorie count of their Kids’ Meal by introducing low-calorie Satisfries into the menu, Advertising Age reports.

Satisfries will be a regular option in the Burger King Kids’ Meal package alongside cheeseburgers, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, apple slices and milk.

The low-cal fries, introduced September last year, contains 20 percent less calories and 25 percent less fat than the regular Burger King fries. Satisfries also has 40 percent less calories and 30 percent less fat than fries from McDonalds.

In an effort to make Kids’ Meals healthier, Burger King introduced apple slices in 2008 as a fun, healthy snack for children. However, many Burger King kid customers continue to request fries to be included in their meals, prompting the fastfood chain to allow Satisfries as a regular entry in their Kids’ Meal this year.

Kids’ Meals consist of at least ten percent of all Burger King sales, says Chief Marketing Officer Erik Hirschhorn. However, Burger King claims that the inclusion of Satisfries will not be actively advertised towards children and will only be revealed to them through menu boards.

The move coincides with recent campaigns pushed by various organizations to combat childhood obesity. Michelle Obama introduced Friday a program to revolutionize nutrient content information on food packaging. Her husband, US President Barack Obama, together with Vice President Joe Biden also campaigned for a healthier America by starring in a viral video promoting exercise.

Burger King isn’t the first fastfood to use low-calorie food to attract customers. Competitors of Burger King have initiated campaigns in the previous years to advertise lower calories in their meals. In 2012, McDonalds started adding apple slices in their Happy Meals. They also made a promise that the sugar, fat and calorie content of their food will be significantly reducedby 2020. In 2015, they guarantee that sodium content in their food will decrease by 15 percent.

Despite these adjustments for healthier fastfood meals, some people, especially concerned parents, still insist on boycotting all types of fast food regardless of calorie count changes.

On social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, some criticized Burger King for the seemingly profit-driven agenda to push Satisfries into the market while others praised the fastfood for taking initiatives in combating childhood obesity.

Kids’ Meals were first introduced by Burger King during the summer of 1990 to compete with McDonalds’ Happy Meal. In some locations in North America, Kids’ Meals are offered in “toddler”, “kids”, and “tweens” servings. Today, Kids’ Meals are one of the largest profit-earners for Burger King.

[Image from Don Sniegowski via Flickr]