Do you want fries with that? The New Orleans Saints quietly changed the terms of their partnership with McDonalds before Sunday’s near-shutout loss to the Seattle Seahawks. They’ve been running a promotion for years now that rewards Saints fans with a free order of fries the day after the Saints scored a touchdown. That was the deal as recently as the 2024 regular season finale.
But after falling to the Seahawks by a lopsided margin of 44-13, the Saints specified that a voucher for a free large side of fries can be redeemed with any purchase after New Orleans scores points. Not a touchdown. Not even a field goal. No matter how they get points on the board, fans win. To be fair, this isn’t the first time this season the fast-food promotion was changed. The same deal applied after last week’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers. It was in play for the season-opening loss to the Arizona Cardinals, too.
Now, look — we certainly aren’t complaining about free food. If the Saints want to make it easier for you to splurge on your lunch break or for a high schooler to grab a snack on the drive home, great. But this might be one of those changes in expectations and anticipations that Mickey Loomis talked about earlier this year. Maybe someone in the Saints’ marketing team anticipated fewer touchdowns being scored this year and called McDonalds to modify their arrangement. Maybe the fast-food magnate came up with it themselves.
But let’s get really conspiratorial. Kellen Moore is a proud Boise State alum, having become a college football icon back in Idaho, famous for their potatoes. Beyond that, he grew up in rural Washington state, which is another big potatoes producer. Maybe this is why he kicked a cheap field goal against the Seahawks on Sunday. The fries must flow.
No matter the full story, and in all seriousness, Moore’s offense has scored the fourth-fewest points in the NFL through three weeks (47, an average of 15.7 per game), so it was a smart decision either way. Hopefully things pick up soon so we’re spending the day after a game celebrating highlight reel-worthy plays and not scouring the fine print on fast food coupons.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints, McDonald’s lower standards for free-fries promotion
