Cow Appreciation Day 2010

Cow Appreciation Day 2010

I've heard the commercials for Chick-fil-a's annual "Cow Appreciation Day" for the past few years and always been slightly intrigued.

Does anyone actually show up dressed like a cow?  I wondered.  So, this year, we decided to give it a try, and I must say it lived up to all the hype.

We all donned our white t-shirts, then added our "spots" (black construction paper held on with some trusty duct tape).  The cow head hats we actually had...we're weird like that.  

Norah smiles, while Eli revels in his ice cream

Actually, they were generously donated by Chick-fil-a to Children's Story Time at the library a couple weeks before, and since I'd heard that Cow Appreciation Day was just around the corner, we held on to them for the occassion.  (They also had free hats available at Chick-fil-a on Cow day, for anyone who happened into the restaurant without a costume.)

Now, if you aren't familiar with Cow Appreciation Day, you might be wondering, "Why in the world would anyone want to embarrass themselves by dressing up like a cow?"

"Moooooooooo!"

The answer, dear blog friends is simple: Free food!
The more decked out you were, the more free food you were rewarded with.  For example, if you showed up with no cow gear and just picked up a free cow hat on the way in, you got a free entree.  If you were completely cow-ified, you could pretty much have anything you wanted off the menu.  In our case, we went all out--at least by Chick-fil-a's standards (I wish I would have taken full-length shots of the kids...we all had on black shorts, and N was wearing white converse sneakers, and E was wearing black ones.)

2 kids meals, 1 adult meal, and ice cream...$0.00!

As a result, 3 free combo meals for us!  (Plus ice cream) Now, you may notice from the receipt, we only saved  $10.42.  A small token for dressing like a cow in public.  But honestly, how often does a restaurant chain feed an entire family for free?

Would I do it again?  Absolutely!  We had so much fun!  There were some really creative costumes.  Our personal favorite was a table of high schoolers who all came in together.  They were all cowed-up (face paint, tails, ears, etc.), and 2 of them dressed up as a 2-man cow, each providing 2 legs, the rear person being the body (he was bent over at the waist, holding on to the guy in front) and the front person being the head and chest.  They walked everywhere in unison, and even wore a cow bell.  So funny!  (I know, I totally slacked on taking their photo...sorry!)

And, in case you were wondering, 95% of the people who came in the restaurant while we were eating were decked out in cow gear.  And the looks on that rare 5% of street-clothed folk  were priceless!  (A mixture of  confusion, annoyance that they had to pay and everyone else didn't, a small bit of remorse at being "left out" of the fun, and of course amusement at how funny the "black and white" restaurant looked) Most people who weren't dressed up took their food to go...I think they felt a little awkward/out of place.  Probably wished they had just used the drive through.

It really wasn't the least bit embarrassing because "everyone was doing it" and it was good, clean (free!) family fun.  I think we'll make it an annual tradition, and maybe even try to get a group of our friends together next year!