When money is tight and funds are not easily available, folks might be looking for quick and cheap ways to get their next meal or enjoy a snack while out running errands.
Some folks have taken the search for free food to extremes, from utilizing their employment in the restaurant industry to exploit flaws in their system to pretending to be DoorDash drivers picking up orders.
However, there might just be an easier way to get a zero-cost food item outside of the home: restaurant chain apps.
Car sales content creator @thankucheese deviated from his usual content area to share some advice for getting free snacks, food, and other items from national chains: downloading apps and immediately entering a customer’s birthdate.
“Money is tight,” he says in the video. “This is how you’re going to get free food. You can literally eat free food for every single day of the year. This is what you’re going to do: imagine that you’re hungry and you got no f*ckin’ money, so you go and get some food. What you’re going to do is download an app for where you want to eat at.”
The TikToker users KFC’s app as an example, instructing viewers to create an account and set the current date as their birthday.
“You’re going to set your birthday for that date,” he explains. “Once you set your birthday for that date, you’re automatically going to get a free reward from that app.”
He says this has worked for just about every restaurant app he has tried, including McDonald’s, Domino’s, and KFC.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @thankucheese via TikTok direct message regarding the video.
Some viewers were critical of the recommendation, as they felt it would only provide a limited amount of food, such as a side or dessert, rather than a complete meal.
“Bro they be giving u a free cookie,” one commenter wrote.
“I need a meal not a them cookie,” another said.
@thankucheese #greenscreen This is how to get free food anywhere. Give it a try #free #food #dinner #lunch #app #rewards #birthday #happy #menu #kfc #friedchicken #freefood #good #taste #fyp #fy #viral #trending ♬ Beautiful Things – Benson Boone
Others were quick to point out that the claim that an app might immediately provide a reward upon entering their birthdate might not work out after all, as some apps require users to be members for a time before they can claim a free item.
“Doesn’t work, you have to be a member days or weeks before your birthday,” one commenter wrote.
“Bro I downloaded uber eats, doordash, McDonald’s and non asked for my birthday,” another claimed.
“Most times you don’t get the reward unless you do it a few weeks before,” a third commented.
