Two years ago, the Centers for Disease Control launched a series of ads featuring horror stories from former smokers who got cancer, lost organs, teeth, and whose children suffered from the ill effects of being exposed to cigarette smoke. Some of these ads have been viewed millions of times online and the CDC claims they are helping to get people to quit or to never start smoking; that’s why a new series of TV spots will soon start hitting the TV airwaves in July. [More]
Food & Personal Care
At Walgreens, Nothing Says “Grilling Essentials” Like Colorful, Highly Flammable Feather Boas
By 6.24.14
You know exactly how this scenario plays out: You’re standing there in front of your backyard grill –whether it’s traditional charcoal or gas — hands empty, brain blank, just wondering what in the heck you need to get this thing going. Forget lighter fluid, propane or charcoal, tongs, mitts and grill scrapers. If only someone could tell you the answer… [More]
KFC Philippines Creates Fried Chicken Coated With Cheese Chips
By 6.23.14
The Philippines have, as a nation, made great contributions to fast food. Yes, other than Jollibee. KFC’s outposts in that country have brought magical things into being, such as the Cheesy Bacon Fest that wasn’t really a festival, but cheese and bacon slathered on regular menu items. Now they’re doing even more with fried chicken coated with cheese. Yes. [More]
Starbucks Expands Made-To-Order Sodas To Southern United States
By 6.23.14
Does waiting in line at Starbucks seem never-ending? Well, it might be getting worse now that the coffee shop is expanding its made-to-order soda options – essentially giving indecisive customers hundreds more choices to make. [More]
McDonald’s, Taco Bell Bring Up Rear In Latest Customer Satisfaction Survey
By 6.23.14
While McDonald’s may be the most well-known fast food company in the world, it’s also the least-loved by American consumers. For the fifth year in a row, and for the 18th time in 19 surveys, the Golden Arches has come in dead last among its competition in the American Customer Satisfaction Index. [More]
Starbucks Announces Price Hikes On Drinks & Packaged Coffee Products
By 6.20.14
Starting next week, you might notice that the price of a cup of joe at Starbucks is a little pricier, and shortly afterward, a bag of coffee at the grocery store might be a bit dearer. The Seattle company says that as the price of arabica beans goes up, so do certain prices for customers beginning June 24. [More]
Man Sues CVS Claiming Prescription Mix-Up Made Him Go Blind In One Eye
By 6.20.14
Taking the wrong prescription can have devastating consequences. Just ask a Houston man who alleges a mistake at the pharmacy counter made him blind in one eye. [More]
7-Eleven Takes Doritos Loaded On Tour, Inflicts Them On More Cities
By 6.18.14
The editors in Consumerist’s Washington, D.C. office are lovely and capable people, but we made them test the Doritos Loaded cheese-like food objects anyway when 7-Eleven was test-marketing them in our nation’s capital. Now people in more cities get to experience…whatever these things are. [More]
Threatening To Blow Up Store With 3 Hydrogen Bombs Is A Tip-Off You Might Be Bluffing
By 6.18.14
We’ve told you before about the increasing number of morons who attempt to hold up retail stores by threatening to blow the place up if their demands for a few hundred dollars in prepaid debit cards isn’t met. It’s already a dubious ultimatum that is just asking to be called out as bogus, so escalating it by, I dunno, saying you have multiple hydrogen bombs at the ready, isn’t going to help make your case. [More]
Starbucks Can’t Fire Pro-Union Worker For Cursing At Manager
By 6.18.14
When is it okay to for a Starbucks employee to use profanity within earshot of customers? You might say never, but a National Labor Relations Board has ruled that the coffee colossus was in the wrong for firing a worker for dropping some R-rated words when involved in pro-union protest. [More]
Funny How Cops Don’t Like It When Drunk, Unruly Taco Bell Customers Impersonate Police Officers
By 6.17.14
It’s Tuesday, which must mean it’s the day that all the bad consumers come out to play in the news with tales of their inebriated shenanigans at fast food restaurants. In this installment, police say a guy in a Mercedes refused to roll forward to pick up his order at the Taco Bell drive-thru, telling cops who arrived on the scene that it was fine, see, because he’s a cop, too. Except not. [More]
CDC Concerned That We’re All Ignoring Chia Seed Recall
By 6.17.14
While Consumerist readers are generally up-to-date on the latest recalls, most Americans aren’t. Yet we hadn’t even shared the current recall of potentially salmonella-contaminated chia seeds that have sickened at least 65 people across the United States and Canada. [More]
Proponents Of Hot Dog Emoji Totally Disappointed With List Of 250 New Characters
By 6.17.14
Yesterday, the Unicode Consortium thrilled users of that modern hieroglyphic language iPhone users are obsessed with by announcing 250 new emoji. But if you were hoping for a hot dog emoji, or heck, even a taco, you’ll be sorely disappointed. There is a “Reversed hand with middle finger extended” that might come in hand to express yourself right about now. [More]
If Texas Farmers Want Chipotle To Buy Their Beef, They Should Stop Feeding Antibiotics To Cattle
By 6.17.14
Yesterday, the Commissioner of the Texas Dept. of Agriculture wrote to the founder and CEO of burrito chain Chipotle, saying he was “shocked” by Chipotle’s “foolish” decision to buy beef from cattle raised in Australia when there are so many cattle farmers in the Lone Star State, accusing the company of abandoning American farmers — but glossing over the fact that the domestic supply is limited if Chipotle wants to stick to its guns about using antibiotic-free beef. [More]
Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Costco Agree To Finally Put Unit Pricing Online
By 6.17.14
When shopping online, it can be difficult to compare prices between similar products because they come in slightly different size containers — or to see if you’re really getting a good deal by buying in bulk — because many e-tail websites don’t include unit pricing to tell you many dollars per ounce/gram/liter or other standard unit of measure. But today, some of the biggest names in retail agreed to start listing unit prices, while the biggest name in online shopping won’t commit. [More]
Woman’s Burger King Salad Comes With Lettuce, Chicken, Cranberries…. And A Razor Blade
By 6.16.14
One might choose to order a salad from a fast food restaurant in the hopes of enjoying a slightly healthier meal (though they’d probably be mistaken). But even if you select a salad that has fewer calories than a Whopper, you don’t want to bite into sharp metal objects. [More]
Starbucks Announces College Plan For Workers Who Want To Earn A Bachelor’s Degree Online
By 6.16.14
Starbucks announced a new education program for its workers this morning, under which any of its benefit’s eligible workers — from plant workers to baristas — can get either full tuition reimbursement or partial scholarships to complete a bachelor’s degree online through Arizona State University. [More]
Supermarket Sued For Selling Inedible Bull Penis For Human Consumption
By 6.13.14
While bull penis, or pizzle, is often sold as something for dogs to gnaw on, and it can be — and sometimes is — eaten by humans, it’s not cool to take something out of a package that’s labeled as unfit for human consumption and then sell it to people. [More]
