Like a scene out of some wacky ’80s comedy, customers at a Boston Starbucks were showered in cash on St. Patrick’s day when a man decided to let fly with 100 one-dollar bills inside the coffee shop. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Woman Sues Starbucks For Allegedly Throwing Tea At Her And Shouting "Catch"
By 3.21.11
Starbucks is accusing a woman of fraud after she sued them for allegedly sliding a cup of hot tea across the counter that burnt her belly, reports the New York Post. They say they have a doc who says she had a rash and skin infection, and that’s what caused the marks. According to her complaint, the barista shouted at her, “Catch the cup.” Good thing it wasn’t a trenta. [More]
SWAT Called, Gunman Pissed Over Price Of Taco Bell Burritos
By 3.21.11
A SWAT team was called in to deal with a gunman who was enraged the price of Taco Bell Beefy Crunch Burritos had risen from their promotional price of $.99 to $1.49. [More]
BK Splits With Agency That Gave Us Creepy King
By 3.21.11
The King has fired his jester. Burger King is parting ways with its ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, with whom it has worked since 2004. While the work never succeeded in toppling McDonald’s as number 1 hamburger slinger, it certainly recreated Burger King in the consumer mindspace and helped usher in a new era of advertising. Adfreak rounds up what they think are the 15 most quintessential CP+B+BK ads. I’d have to agree with their top pick, the infamous “Whopper Virgins” series where they brought Burger King and McDonald’s hamburgers to remote Thai hill villagers and Transylvanian farmers and videotaped their taste test. [More]
Would You Berate Someone For Eating On Public Transit?
By 3.18.11
Public transit smooshes together people from all walks of life. In this video, a person from the “don’t eat on the subway” class of society comes into contact with the “I’m hungry and I’m going to eat my noodles” class of society. The woman from the first group keeps asking the woman from the second group to stop eating, at one point saying that “animals eat on the subway like that,” and the woman from the second group and her friend take offense. Then the train lurches and punches start flying. The noodles appear to stay intact, thank heavens. [More]
FDA Panel Recommends Ban On Menthol Cigarettes
By 3.18.11
If you like your cigarettes minty fresh, you might want to start stocking up now. Earlier today an FDA panel announced that a ban on menthol smokes would be a good thing for the public health. [More]
Pepsi Throwback Becomes Permanent
By 3.17.11
Pepsi “Throwback,” a version made with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, will has been upgraded from “limited time” to “permanent,” the sodamaker announced on its Facebook wall. No more driving down to Mexico or waiting for Passover to snatch some up. You can now enjoy the all-natural sugary pick-me-up beverage as an occasional treat and compliment to your favorite nutritious meals and snacks all year-round. [More]
Diet Coke Unseats Pepsi As #2 Cola Brand
By 3.17.11
Pepsi has spent decades throwing stones at Coke from its position in second place among the fizzy beverage brands. And now Pepsi will need to toss those stones even farther as the brand has given up its spot to Diet Coke and slipped to third on the list. [More]
Burger King CEO: British Women Are Ugly And The Food Sucks
By 3.16.11
Burger King’s new CEO Bernardo Hees has ticked off some customers in Jolly Old England after an off-the-cuff remark he made during a recent lecture made its way across the pond. [More]
Starbucks To Buy Peet's Coffee?
By 3.16.11
The original Peet’s Coffee in Berkeley is said to have been the inspiration for the founders of coffee colossus Starbucks. Now the ‘Bucks may be looking to return the favor by acquiring the smaller chain. [More]
Price Of Premature Birth-Preventing Drug Goes From $10 To $1,500 Per Dose
By 3.15.11
After the Food and Drug Administration granted KV Pharmaceuticals sole rights to produce progesterone, a drug that prevents premature births in mothers, the company has begun charging $1,500 per dose of a drug that formerly cost $10. [More]
At CVS, The Word 'Clearance' Is Essentially Meaningless
By 3.15.11
Reader Juhgail noticed “clearance” tags on an item that she was planning to buy anyway. Since “clearance” nearly always also means “sale” in retail, it’s nice when that happens. Except in CVS’s reality vortex, “clearance” actually means “we stuck a shelf tag on it, but left it at the same price.” Makes sense.
[More]
Domino's Pizza Ads Smack Of Desperation
By 3.11.11
Does Domino’s seem a little desperate lately? A little too eager to prove that they’re listening to your negative tweets about the pizza quality, and not putting boogers in the pies? Like that commercial where they talk all those customers who think they’re complaining about the ingredients inside a focus group room, but then they’re actually in the farmer’s field where the tomatoes come from! Because absolutely nothing happens in the process between getting that tomato to the local pizzeria. Nope, they just send it via pneumatic tube. The comedians at UCB have noticed the earnest tone and made a lil parody video to skewer Domino’s for daring to try to change. Free salad topoff via helicopter, anyone? [More]
Burger King's Stacker Deal Uses Questionable Math, Robs Customers Of Bacon
By 3.11.11
Do you like to mix and match your fast food items? Stephen was contemplating the current pricing structure of the Burger King Stacker, and realized that the modular sandwich relies on some strange math. Sure, you can pay more and receive more patties, but the best deal comes if you’re willing to toss out two buns and combine three single Stackers into a sort of Ultimate Triple Stacker. [More]
Starbucks In Wrongful-Death Lawsuit After Tip Jar Dispute
By 3.9.11
The estate of a Starbucks customer who lost his life after attempting to chase down a tip jar thief has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the java giant, alleging that the company invited crime by having an unsecured tip jar on the counter. [More]
Angry Burger King Customer Climbs Over Counter To Attack Employees
By 3.8.11
A Burger King customer in South Florida was so peeved at the fast food eatery’s staffers that she crawled over the counter and began tossing food at them. Luckily, it was all caught on camera. [More]
Subway Tops McDonald's To Become Largest Fast-Food Chain
By 3.8.11
Subway’s Jared may boast about how fit he is, but in the battle of the corporate mascots, he’s now much bigger than arch-rival Ronald McDonald. Subway is now the world’s largest fast-food chain, with 33,749 restaurants. McDonald’s trails by over a thousand, with 32,737 restaurants worldwide. [More]
Some Skippy Peanut Butter Recalled Over Possible Salmonella Contamination
By 3.7.11
The folks at Unilever, with a little help from the FDA, have announced a recall of certain jars of Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy Reduced Fat Super Chunk Peanut Butter Spread, because these products may be contaminated with everyone’s favorite pathogen, Salmonella. [More]
