Maybe he was riding the high of Ben & Jerry’s launching the “Schweddy Balls” flavored ice cream named after the famous SNL sketch he was in? Whatever the reason, Alec Baldwin turned his 100,000 megawatt star power and 323,235 Twitter followers on a Starbucks barrista Wednesday who apparently left him with a burnt taste in his mouth, tweeting that the guy was “uptight” and had “an attitude problem.” The tweet named the coffee worker by name and gave the cross streets of the Starbucks location he was at. Kind of like killing a gnat with a RPG, no? [More]
Food & Personal Care
Starbucks CEO Emails Customers, Recruiting Them To Stop Washington Gridlock
By 9.6.11
The CEO of Starbucks emailed customers on Friday asking them to join hands with him and other business leaders to urge Congress to stop the nihilist political gridlock and get on with fixing our country. Tuesday night at 6pm he will host an online townhall meeting. At the same time, he’s also set up an online petition where businesses can “pledge” to withhold campaign contributions as well as promise to start hiring employees. Is this the start of the “Coffee Party”? [More]
Chipotle & Willie Nelson Team Up For Animated Anti-Factory Farm Ad
By 8.31.11
In a combination we never would’ve thought would be so likable, Chipotle has enlisted the help of Willie Nelson covering a Coldplay song to make an animated piece that is anti-factory farming. [More]
Pumpkin Spice Lattes Aren't On The Starbucks Menu Yet, But You Can Get One If You Ask
By 8.29.11
Fans of Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Lattes may not be as rabid as McRib worshipers, but that’s probably because the seasonal beverage comes around for a short time every year before being heartlessly taken away until the next autumn. The drink isn’t scheduled to go on sale until next week but the scuttlebutt is that you can get one now if you just ask for it. [More]
Home Depot, Starbucks To Make A Pile Of Post-Hurricane Cash
By 8.29.11
Reports state that Hurricane Irene could have done anywhere from $3 billion to $10 billion in damage during her brief trip up the East Coast. That’s a lot of plywood, nails, plaster and everything else that will be needed for repair. It’s also a lot of coffee for beleaguered consumers. [More]
Friday Tipster Round-Up: Holiday Creep Edition
By 8.26.11
Sifting through this week’s submissions, it looks like users of the free Consumerist Tipster App had the holidays on their brains. Of course, it appears they didn’t have much choice as stores have already begun packing the aisles with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas items. [More]
FDA Says Some Cancer Drugs Are In Short Supply
By 8.25.11
According to the Food and Drug Administration, several generic cancer drugs are suffering dwindling supplies, creating stumbling blocks for treatment programs. The past two years have yielded sizable spikes in shortages, many of which are generic injections used to treat testicular and breast cancer. [More]
Botox Now Approved To Keep Your Overactive Bladder Wrinkle-Free
By 8.24.11
Before it became a party favor passed around by the vanity-obsessed set, Botox was considered to have several non-cosmetic therapeutic purposes, many involving the treatment of muscle spasms. And today it was announced that the popular wrinkle-fighting drug has been approved for use by some people suffering from overactive bladder. [More]
Subway Ad Serves Up Birdbaths Of Hamburger Grease And Hypocrisy
By 8.19.11
Subway’s “Eat Fresh” campaign is all very well and good, but fast food is fast food. Sure, you can order a six-inch turkey sub loaded with vegetables and no cheese or mayo with a side of apple slices. Or you can get a footlong tuna salad sub that has more fat than a Big Mac and fries. Which do most customers choose? Yet Subway’s latest ad slams burger chains for the unhealthiness of their food, showing kiddie pools full of burger grease. [More]
Help Make Our Really Big Guide To Secret Menu Items Even Bigger
By 8.19.11
It’s been more than four years since we first posted The Really Big Guide To Secret Menu Items, in which readers shared their inside scoops on how to score hidden fast food gems like “Naked Chicken” at Popeyes or take advantage of TGIFriday’s Five Easy Pieces policy. There have been several requests to update and expand the list, so we’re going back to the source: you. [More]
Starbucks Pays $75,000 To Settle EEOC Lawsuit Over Barista With Dwarfism
By 8.18.11
Here’s an update to a story we brought you in May about a lawsuit brought against Starbucks by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a former barista with dwarfism who claimed she was fired during her training period after she requested the use of a step-stool or stepladder because of her small stature. Starbucks announced today that it has agreed to pay $75,000 to settle the issue. [More]
Tweets Get Chipotle To Change Menus To Show Pinto Beans Cooked With Bacon
By 8.17.11
Both a diehard Chipotle fan and a person who doesn’t eat pork, Seth Porges was surprised to discover recently that the pinto beans he’d been eating for years from there are actually cooked with a little bit of bacon. Within two hours of emailing top execs and tweeting about it, he received a personal phonecall from Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle. [More]
Tobacco Companies Sue FDA Over New Warning Labels
By 8.17.11
In an effort to get the Food and Drug Administration to shut down its plans to slap graphic new warning labels on tobacco products, four large tobacco firms have sued the government. Big tobacco contends the labels will cost too much to print and will infringe on their rights to free speech. [More]
Starbucks CEO Urges Business Leaders: Create Jobs Instead Of Lining Politicians' Pockets
By 8.16.11
Over the weekend, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz spoke to the NY Times about being fed up with partisan politics in Washinton, D.C., and how big business needed to stop feeding the beast with campaign contributions. On Monday, he reached out to a handful of other top execs to join him in his boycott. [More]
Ball Park & Oscar Mayer Square Off In Court Over Who Has The Best Wiener
By 8.15.11
“Let the wiener wars begin.” That’s what a judge in a legal battle between the nation’s two biggest hot dog brands declared earlier today, as the makers of Oscar Mayer and Ball Park franks each accused the other of misleading and deceptive advertising practices. [More]
60,000 Pounds Of Ground Beef Recalled Because E.Coli Doesn't Make For A Good Burger
By 8.15.11
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a recall of more than 60,000 pounds of ground beef because of possible E. coli contamination. The recalled meat was produced by the Kansas-based National Beef Packing Company and shipped to stores nationwide. [More]
Starbucks Shuts Down Jonathan's Card Over Fraud Concerns
By 8.15.11
The Jonathan’s Card social experiment is over. The experiment proved that someone will always come along and ruin anything that’s fun. Since July, the entire world has shared one Starbucks stored-value payment and rewards card, which originally belonged to a guy named Jonathan. People from all over bought coffees using the card, sneaked part of its balance over to their own cards, refilled the card, and followed the card’s fortunes on Twitter. It’s all over now: Starbucks deactivated the card on Friday evening over fraud concerns. Specifically, an automated script that steals from the card. [More]
Pizza Place Learns To Not Call Customer "Dumbass" On Twitter
By 8.15.11
There are some very good reasons why many traditional publicists hate Twitter and other social media outlets that give businesses unfettered access to immediately address their customers. Because it’s amazing how quickly you can anger your entire customer base in 140 or fewer characters. [More]
