Fans attending the Baltimore Ravens’ home opener on Sunday will be leaving more than empty cups, nacho tins, and possibly their team spirit when they exit M&T Bank Stadium: Guests can leave their DNA to be tested if they take part in the team’s latest promotion. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Nestlé Pays $500 Million For 68% Of Blue Bottle Coffee
By 9.14.17 — Updated: 9.18.17
There’s a very big difference between a cup of lukewarm Nescafé instant coffee and a cup of freshly roasted pour-over coffee, yet the same parent company will be able to bring give you both. Nestlé has reportedly paid around $500 million for 68% of the roastery Blue Bottle. [More]
Olive Garden Offering Actual Trip To Italy Alongside This Year’s Pasta Pass
By 9.14.17
Attention, fans of carbohydrates! It’s time to warm up your online purchasing fingers. The Neverending Pasta Pass goes back on sale at Olive Garden today, but there’s a new twist this year: 50 passes will be available that entitle the bearer to neverending pasta for eight weeks, and a weeklong trip to Italy. Update: And they’re gone: 22,000 passes and the 50 Passports that come with the free trip sold out in one second. [More]
Nobody Knows What LaCroix “Essence” Is, Nobody Seems To Care
By 9.13.17
There’s no doubt that LaCroix — the comeback kid that transformed from the seltzer your mom drank to a ubiquitous libation treasured anew by the millennial gang — has amassed a dedicated following recently in the U.S. But that devotion doesn’t mean its fans know what the “essence” is in the carbonated drinks — and no one really seems to care. [More]
The Internet Thinks Denny’s New Mascot Looks Like Literal Crap
By 9.13.17
We have a question for Denny’s about its new hat-wearing sausage link mascot: What were you thinking? [More]
Two Police Officers Deliver Babies At Same Burger King One Day Apart
By 9.12.17
When a baby is ready to grace this world with its presence, it’s ready — even at a Burger King. At least that was the case last week for not one, but two babies born two days in a row in the parking lot of a New Jersey restaurant.
[More]
London Sewer Workers Fighting Intense “Sewer War” Against 820-Foot ‘Fatberg’
By 9.12.17
Every time you flush a disposable wet wipe down the toilet, just imagine sewer workers screaming, “Nooooo!” That’s because no one wants to battle a monster “fatberg” of the sort currently blocking London’s sewers. [More]
People Paid $75 To Receive Sad, Cold, Tiny Slices At ‘Fyre Festival Of Pizza’
By 9.12.17
When you pay in advance for tickets to a food festival, you expect an event that serves large quantities of said food, right? Yet people who bought tickets to pizza and burger festivals held in Brooklyn on Saturday found tiny and cold slices of pizza, warm drinks, and a long wait before they could even get to that subpar food. [More]
Puppies Sold At Pet Stores Linked To Multistate Bacterial Outbreak
By 9.12.17
What’s the first thing you want to do when you see an adorable puppy? Probably snuggle and cuddle the heck out of it. But federal officials say there’s a multistate outbreak of a nasty bacteria going around, and it’s being spread by puppies sold at a national pet store chain. [More]
Pizza Hut Is Sorry-ish That Store Stopped Workers From Fleeing Florida Ahead Of Hurricane
By 9.11.17
For the better part of a week, residents in areas expected to be affected by Hurricane Irma were making plans to evacuate. But at least one Pizza Hut restaurant in Florida tried to restrict employee’s evacuation plans ahead of the storm. [More]
Need An Aspirin Or Some Deodorant? CVS Vending Machines Offer On-The-Go Options
By 9.11.17
We’ve all been there: You’re going about your day when suddenly, your stomach is growling, you’re struck with a blinding headache, and you realize you forgot to put on deodorant before you left the house. So now if you’re having one of those days when everything goes wrong, CVS wants you to hit up one of their brand-new vending machines for a quick fix. [More]
Probiotic Supplement For Babies Recalled Due To Confusing Directions
By 9.8.17
Sometimes people take directions too literally. It’s in case of that that Garden of Life, LLC, is recalling a probiotic supplement made for babies. [More]
The Juicero Was A Terrible Idea That Became A Money-Losing Business
By 9.8.17
No matter how much you like cold-pressed juice, it was hard to make an argument for actually buying the Juicero, a WiFi-connected juicer. The product, which originally sold for $699, turned proprietary, barcoded fresh fruit and vegetable packets into juice. Now Juicero is going out of business, and these machines will likely become pricey doorstops. [More]
Less Is More At Chili’s: Chain Cuts Menu By 40%
By 9.8.17
In a bid to avoid the continuously closing fate of chains like Joe’s Crab Shack, Outback Steakhouse, Bob Evans, and Logan’s Roadhouse, seminal restaurant chain Chili’s is downsizing — its menu, that is. [More]
Whole Foods Seeing More Shoppers In Wake Of Amazon Merger
By 9.7.17
Maybe it’s the slightly lower prices, or the curiosity of seeing Amazon Echo speakers being sold in the produce aisle, or even the ground beef sculpted into Amazon logos — whatever the reason, it looks like Whole Foods is seeing a boost in foot traffic in the weeks since it officially became part of the Amazon family. [More]
Amazon Seller Offering Expensive, Potentially Contaminated Soy Butter 6 Months After Recall
By 9.6.17
When a product has been recalled and disappears from store shelves, that includes virtual store shelves. Yet jars of I.M. Healthy’s recalled soy butter, a peanut butter substitute, were available from a third-party seller on Amazon’s site last week, meaning that customers could potentially get a large helping of E. coli along with their sandwiches. [More]
Chipotle Bringing Drippy, Cheesy Queso To All Restaurants Next Week
By 9.5.17
Get your chips ready: Chipotle is taking its queso out off the test track and into all restaurants next week. [More]
That Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte May Cost You More This Year
By 9.5.17
It’s that time of year again: Starbucks is kicking off pumpkin spice latte season by raising its prices for some U.S. customers. [More]
