If you’re one of the 49.71% of our readers who, when polled, thought that Dorito-encrusted fried chicken sounded like an amazing idea, we have great news. Kind of. Yum Brands has brought this idea one step closer to reality: as they whispered to some food bloggers a few months ago, tortilla-encrusted fried chicken strips have left the imaginations of Taco Bell’s food scientists and leapt onto restaurant menus in three states. [More]
new and exciting products
You Can Now Delegate Mailing Boxes Of Poop To Your Enemies
By 11.18.14
While placing feces on the doorstep of someone who has offended you is a time-honored insult, it’s now possible, for about the cost of a pizza and wings, to have a steaming pile delievered to the address of your choice. Well, maybe not so much a “steaming pile,” and more of a “room-temperature sealed plastic container.” Is this service all it’s advertised to be? There’s nothing quite like a first-hand review when a new product or service hits the market. [More]
Christmas Candy Corn Is A Real Thing
By 11.17.14
This spring, we shared the weird but not completely illogical news that candy marketers were pushing candy corn during unexpected new holidays. Brach’s markets red, white, and blue Independence Day candy corn, for example. Another company sells pastel candy corn for Easter with the theologically troubling name of Jesus Promise Seeds. Naturally, for Christmas, you can buy red, white, and green corn. [More]
The Troy-Bilt FLEX Is The Cuisinart Of Lawn Care
By 10.9.14
What if you could buy one piece of equipment that would take care of many of your home and lawn care needs? Kind of like a food processor with different blades, but for the outside of your house. And huge. It would be a snow blower, lawn mower, leaf blower, and pressure washer all in one. This is a real thing, but should it be? [More]
Taco Bell Is Testing Tortilla Chip-Encrusted Fried Chicken––No, Really
By 9.11.14
Remember a few months ago when we shared the news that KFC in the Philippines is offering fried chicken covered in Clover Chips, a popular tapioca-based snack? We took the opportunity to wonder whether parent company Yum Brands might bring that concept to the United States, substituting Dorito crumbs for Clover Chips. Well, maybe the company was listening…just not necessarily KFC. [More]
Chia Pet Makers Now Selling Jars Of Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Seeds
By 7.11.14
Chia seeds are a hot food item now, but Joseph Enterprises was ahead of its time. They put chia seeds in millions of American homes starting three decades ago. Of course, there’s one key difference: we were all smearing those seeds on the exterior of a terra cotta animal, not sprinkling them on top of our breakfast granola. Until now. [More]
Drain-FX: Another Infomercial Product That Actually Works
By 7.8.14
Have you seen the ads for Drain-FX, a product for unclogging pipes stuffed with things that really, really shouldn’t be in the plumbing of your house? You might wonder whether it’s all TV hype, or an infomercial product that does what it promises. Our colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports did, too, and they crammed their drains with a variety of substances to find the answer for all of us. [More]
Oh Look, A Countertop Ice Cream Sandwich Machine
By 6.4.14
Here at Consumerist, we enjoy bringing you the very latest in useless appliances that are glorified toasters or waffle makers. Cupcakes? Pies? Dog treats? Pretzels? Hot dogs? If you’re really into any of these products, you can find a dedicated electric countertop cooker for them. Should you? We don’t know, but now there’s an electric ice cream sandwich maker that you can set on your counter as well. [More]
How Do I Navigate Impressive Advances In Toothbrush Technology?
By 5.28.14
What’s that, you say? You never spend more than a dollar on a toothbrush? You might be saving money, but you also are missing out on some fascinating advances in toothbrush technology. For example, brushes based on the basic Weeble principle that stand up on your bathroom counter. [More]
Peeps Make Further Push To Become Year-Round Candy
By 5.8.14
At least 50% of Consumerist editors enjoy marshmallow Peeps, and the others are wrong. However, even we have to admit that making smaller versions of the snack available year-round is a terrible, delicious, terrible idea. What makes the sugar-encrusted sugar fluff so special, is that it is special: even though they’re available more or less year round, each variety is at least loosely tied to a holiday. Until now. [More]
This Is A Paper Towel Holder USB Hub
By 5.5.14
Have you ever looked at your paper towel holder and thought to yourself, “Wow, I really wish I could plug my smartphone into that”? No, neither have most other people, but the TowlHub still exists. [More]
For Only $400, Frost Your Beer Glasses Without Pesky Freezers
By 4.16.14
It’s really too easy to make fun of idiotic and overpriced items available for sale in places like Hammacher Schlemmer, Skymall, Brookstone, infomercials and even the more distant and strange corners of Amazon. Yet sometimes there’s a product so baffling that we have to feature it anyway. The Beer Glass Froster for home use is one of those products. [More]
DiGiorno Thinks We Want To Design Our Own Frozen Pizzas
By 4.16.14
I always thought that the point of frozen pizzas was that you could shove them in the oven and chomp on pizza with a minimum of effort and spending, without having to leave the house. Yet DiGiorno thinks that Americans are up for expending more effort in our frozen pizza consumption, not less. Their new product has modular toppings. [More]
Fruit Punch Oreos Exist, Are Available At Walmart
By 4.3.14
Here at Consumerist, we try to stay at the forefront of advances in cookie technology. Earlier this week, we learned that fruit punch-flavored Oreos exist. This is only the latest in a string of intriguing and/or horrifying Oreo varieties that have hit shelves in recent years. We had to know more. [More]
Snuggle Up With A Giant Chicken Drumstick
By 3.11.14
We’re not sure why you would want to snuggle up with a giant pillow shaped like a chicken leg. If that’s a longtime dream of yours, it might as well be a super-realistic one, though, right? that’s why the company Beloved offers this stunning, hyper-realistic pillow shaped like an enormous chicken leg for all of your combined nap/snacktime needs. [Beloved via Foodbeast] [More]
Now On Store Shelves: Chicken Soup For The Soul For The Body
By 3.7.14
Twenty years ago, the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series brought anthologies of heartwarming and inspiration stories to the top of the best-selling book rankings. They’re still putting out new books, and even licensed the brand to lines of pet foods. Now what’s good enough for our cats and dogs is finally good enough for us, as Chicken Soup for the Soul brand chicken soup hits shelves. [More]
Behold The Pop-Up Electric Hot Dog And Bun Toaster
By 2.27.14
Live from the store-closing sale of yet another Kmart, reader Amanda sent us this strange unitasking appliance that we were not previously aware existed. [More]
Sriracha-Flavored Pringles Now Available, Only At Walmart
By 2.27.14
Maybe this means that the sriracha trend is finally over? Nah, probably not. And we’re glad for it. Sriracha-flavored Pringles are now a thing, and are available exclusively at Walmart. [More]
