When you walk into a KFC, you’re probably thinking “finger lickin’ good” as you seek to satisfy your rumbling stomach, not “can I charge my phone here?”
But KFC is going against the grain and experimenting with the latter thought with its Watt a Box. The box houses not just the meal you ordered, but also a 6,100mAh power bank on the side with a micro-USB and Lightning cable to charge an Android or iPhone. Because who doesn’t want to spread all that grease onto a smartphone?
Watt a Box is a collaboration between KFC and Blink Digital, a Mumbai, India-based company. Interestingly, the power bank is removable, so you can always bring it along even after you’re done wolfing down some fried chicken — though, you may not have much of a reason to, according to BGR’s tests. The tech site says the power bank only added 17 percent to an iPhone 5S before it was drained. After bringing the bank back up to 100 percent, it only charged the Redmi Note 3 by 7 percent before it died again. It’s a pretty poor implementation, but the concept is neat.
But, hey, it’ll probably take you a short time to finish your meal, and if you can add a few more minutes of juice at the same time, why not?
Unfortunately you’re going to have a tough time trying out the new smartphone-ready meal box. Watt a Box is only available through contests at select locations in Delhi and Mumbai, India.
Fast-food vendors are increasingly experimenting with bringing tech into their meal experience. One notable effort came in the form of a McDonald’s Happy Meal box that turned into a virtual reality viewer, not unlike Google Cardboard. These experiments don’t make their way to the U.S., and usually have extremely limited life cycles.
