A Chick-fil-A location in Towson, Maryland has come up with a simple but well-timed idea: lock your phones away during your meal and earn free ice cream for the whole table. The promotion, called the “Cell Phone Coop Challenge,” invites dine-in customers to place their devices in a small container — the “coop” — at the start of their meal and keep them there until they’re done eating.
The mechanics are straightforward. Customers ask a team member for a coop, place all phones inside it, and eat without interruptions. When the meal is finished, they let staff know, and everyone at the table receives a complimentary Icedream Cone — the chain’s soft-serve ice cream.
The challenge taps into a genuinely widespread frustration. A 2023 survey found that 68% of households include at least one person who uses their phone during shared meals, and 65% of respondents said they don’t like it. Forty-two percent went further, describing it as outright rude. Chick-fil-A’s promotion doesn’t moralize — it just offers a small, tangible reward for doing the thing most people already agree they should be doing.
The idea fits a broader cultural moment. Schools across the US have introduced phone-free policies, and there’s growing public appetite — particularly among parents — for nudges that make putting devices away feel like a positive choice rather than a sacrifice. A free ice cream cone is a low-cost way for a restaurant to create a memorable experience while standing out in a crowded fast-food market.
Whether the concept spreads to other locations remains to be seen, but the Towson Place location has already generated significant attention online after a photo of the in-store sign circulated widely on social media.