Two weeks ago, members of the Food Republic staff received an email from representatives of KFC, along with an invitation to an event promising to reveal news “that will affect the future of one of the world’s most iconic brands.” The fried-chicken chain even went so far as to state that this “transformational announcement…may be…
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Truffle fries, regular potato fries’ posh sibling, have been making their way onto sleek bar menus everywhere, most recently popping up on McDonald's famous Dollar Menu. According to Metro UK, McDonald’s in Singapore has started selling the classed-up fries as part of its holiday menu. Of course, they’re not exactly actual truffle fries, but rather, truffle-flavored fries. The flavoring comes in a packet of seasoning…
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Stop by your local McDonald’s or Burger King today and chances are that a photograph of a salad creation graces the front window. It’s no secret that fast-food chains have been pushing products considered to be more “nutritious” (sugary, fat-filled dressings be damned), spurred in part by increased competition and an uptick in health-focused movements — such as…
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Ketchup won’t be the only fancy thing at the new McDonald’s Japanese pop-up, Restaurant M.That's right. On July 27, Restaurant M will be dishing out classy, repurposed Mickey D's classics, such as vichyssoise made of French fries, gelée made of whatever vegetables McDonald’s may have on hand, triangle-cut patties on toothpicks and a McFlurry-type dessert…
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Welcome to the afternoon roundup! If it happened in food today, it’s news to us. Here are a few stories that have caught our attention. Beer: Renowned ice cream smiths Ben & Jerry’s teamed up with New Belgium to develop their first craft beer, set to be released this fall. Will you be picking chunks…
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[caption id="attachment_76324" align="alignnone" width="700" ] Duke’s mayonnaise has an especially fervent following in the South.[/caption] Welcome to the afternoon roundup! If it happened in food today, it’s news to us. Here are a few stories that have caught our attention. Condiments: Love it or hate it, mayonnaise is undoubtedly a polarizing condiment in the U.S.…
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Welcome to the afternoon roundup! If it happened in food today, it’s news to us. Here are a few stories that have caught our attention. Food TV: Could watching cooking shows make you fat? The Atlantic has compiled a sampling of headlines about a recent published study that concluded women who both got information from…
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We love Sweden. But, Sweden, what is going on with the Big Mac clothing line that apparently you are selling on your soil? This, the land of ACNE and Uniforms For The Dedicated, is now selling long underwear emblazoned with Ray Kroc’s two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed…
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Welcome to the afternoon roundup! If it happened in food today, it's news to us. Here are a few stories that have caught our attention. Fast Food: McDonald’s in Japan reported its first operating loss since it listed its shares in 2001. What to blame? The chain suffered a number of food scandals over the…
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McDonald's, the beleaguered fast food behemoth, is on a mission to make you feel better about eating its products. On Tuesday, the company released a new video, promising a behind-the-scenes look at how its "World Famous Fries" get made. The five-minute clip, hosted by former Mythbusters star Grant Imahara, is the latest in a series…
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In today’s world of green juices and kale salads, fast food regularly gets a bad rap in the media. Perhaps no place is more stigmatized than the longtime king of the drive-thru, the glorious golden arches of McDonald’s. Sure, the worldwide chain with “over one billion served” is big on making claims about the nutritional…
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A few weeks ago, ads went up around Vegas looking for performers to audition for a zombie-themed musical on the Vegas Strip called “Hunger in the Night.” It was billed as “Las Vegas' Newest Live (Undead!) Show” and on June 6, hordes of actors showed up in Downtown Vegas for their chance at stardom. The…
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Tough times might be ahead for Folgers. Long a dominant force in the grocery store coffee business — that is, the more budget-friendly cans we all grew up on and the stuff we still drink when home for the holidays — the company has found stiff competition from a segment of restaurant-branded products like Starbucks…
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KFC "Fresh New Look, Same Great Taste" Ad [embed=//www.youtube.com/embed/6vYCssei9ks] Let’s take a quick look at what we know about fast food ads on television: There are lots of them, usually at least one per commercial break. Smiling children and company mascots – think kings, clowns and Chihuahuas – are abundant. Thanks to some sneaky photographic…
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[caption id="attachment_70291" align="alignnone" width="700" ] We don't think you'll be seeing these photos on McDonald's TV ads any time soon.[/caption] We can all admit to hitting up a drive-thru during a summer road trip. And if we were to take McDonald’s television advertisements at face value, we’d believe that its products are not terrible for…
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"There's a certain smugness you get when you walk into a McDonald's and you say, 'I'd like the salad!'" quips Michael Ian Black in this interview from the Food Republic Interview Lounge at the W Austin during the Austin Food & Wine Festival. The actor and comedian behind The State and several high-quality podcasts (not…
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This week in food news, antibiotic use crops up where you’d least expect it, White House assistant chef may be furloughed, historians debate Margaret Thatcher’s role in the creation of soft serve ice cream and McDonald’s deals with its disgruntled employees. The old adage about an apple a day is in need of some PR…
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Which flash mob combines a cult seasonal treat with a viral thing people won't stop doing, PLUS fries? This flash mob right here in Times Square, a bunch of happy little leprachauns getting their sugar fix. We're not McDonald's fans here (nor does this serve as an endorsement of the Harlem Shake craze), but you…
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It’s a rare week in food politics when the news is overwhelmingly positive. In a battle between Taco Bell and vegetables, vegetables won; drink industry giant PepsiCo agreed to remove a flame retardant from Gatorade thanks to one teenager’s petition and the CDC announced a measured drop in foodborne illnesses. This is the food politics…
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A proposed French tax outrages the Brewers of Europe, American fast food workers look to unionize, and a new study upsets the Corn Refiners Association. It’s been a fraught week in food politics for most, with the exception of the FDA. Abroad, the French government has proposed a whopping 160 percent increase in beer tax…
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[embed=https://www.youtube.com/embed/2w_OxdmoiDQ] Since late last year, McDonald’s has aired a number of commercials detailing how the multi-national fast food conglomerate hires actual farmers to grow actual produce for their Angus Bacon and Cheese Snack Wraps. Today we find yet another example of the company’s farm-to-freezer-to-sadness practices with a profile of a potato farmer in Grand Falls,…
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Beef is back in the news, but this time it’s not about stomach-turning hamburger filler. Instead, Canadian beef made headlines twice this week and the news was only half disastrous. Let’s get the negative part out of the way first: XL Foods Inc. linked to E. Coli Thanks to a random U.S. food safety inspection…
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There are many reasons why shoppers buy organic — fewer pesticides, reduced environmental impact, superior taste. But if nutrition is one of your reasons, you may want to think again. This week, scientists from Stanford University released a study in which they concluded that organic fruits and vegetables are not significantly more nutritious then their…
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We recently debuted a new column by Eli Sussman, former ad-man and current cookbook author and cook at Mile End in Brooklyn. In this week’s edish of AdSnacking I’m taking on the biggest kahuna of food advertising: McDonald’s. Its 2011 ad spend was $963 million dollars in the U.S. alone, meaning that McDonald’s accounts for…
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You’ve got your Big Mac fans and your Whopper people and your Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy lovers. But what about the rest of us — those who love a salty, fried, fat-saturated good time, but without beef entering the equation? Allow me to speak for the fast food fish fillet lovers out there. As a…
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