McDonald’s new fry fork is actually fun to use

THE woman at the counter said I was getting the last frork available at the McDonald’s on New York Avenue NW in Washington. I expressed mild shock that there was still one available at 3:30pm on the only day the chain was handing out the goofy utensil with the tuber tines.

A future collector’s item, no doubt, perhaps as valuable one day as the Furby Happy Meal Toy Set, for which one eBayer wanted $900 a few years ago.

More immediately, I was interested in the utensil’s functionality, given that it substitutes for your fingers, which, last time I checked mine, worked just fine. First, of course, I had to assemble the tool, as if it were an instrument that I bought at Ikea.

I didn’t know how much fun it would be playing with the frork, which you could secure only if you ordered one of the new Signature Crafted Recipes sandwiches. While deciding on a sandwich, I realised McDonald’s had offi ci al l y entered into the fast-casual business with its SCR line. You select from one of three toppings, pick a protein and decide between a sesame seed bun or “artisan roll”.

Still, I channelled my inner Beavis and Butt-Head and assembled a frork with fries shaped into devil horns. I had this free-floating concern that my sandwich wouldn’t drop a load of guacamole, buttermilk ranch and pico de gallo without me squeezing it like pastry bag, but it performed beautifully. There were plenty of topping droppings to mop up with the frork, fulfilling its function in life.

Of course, to keep the game going, I did have to squeeze my sandwich like a pastry bag to get more toppings to tumble. So be it. This was the most fun I’ve had at McDonald’s since I was a kid (and the Pico Guacamole grilled chicken wasn’t so bad, either). I had to wonder, though, was I enjoying this because of the Ikea Effect, that phenomenon in which a product’s value increases with the amount of labour you invest in it?

There may be more to this DIY frork than I first suspected.