It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to make TV commericials for fast food mouth-watering and eye-opening. It’s not just the special cameras and food stylists. It takes engineering, robots, and catapults. Abby Narishkin explains.
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Japan’s national culinary treasure, sushi, was automated in 1958, when Yoshiaki Shiraishi, the Henry Ford of sushi, opened the first kaiten sushi (回転寿司 “revolving-sushi”) restaurant in Osaka. Today, the $5.1 billion business of conveyer belt sushi is dominated by four giant chains: Sushiro, Kura Sushi, Hama Sushi, and Kappa Sushi.
Competition between the big 4 firms is keen as a sashimi bōchō knife, and led to some bluefin-tuna-sized scandals this year. Last month, Tokyo police smelled something fishy, and arrested the president of Kappa Sushi for stealing corporate secrets from rival Hama Sushi. He later resigned. And in June, Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency reprimanded Sushiro for promoting a sea urchin sushi 90 percent of their outlets didn’t actually carry.
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McRib, McDonald’s mechanically restructured pork “rib,” is seasonal, just like the flu. It’s back, but McD’s says this will be a farewell tour.
Maybe there are supply chain problems with the sandwich’s many non-pork components, like: ammonium sulfate, polysorbate 80, sodium benzoate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oils, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, soy flour, sodium stearoyl lactylate, ascorbic acid, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, calcium peroxide, calcium propionate,high fructose corn syrup, xanthan gum, and sodium benzoate. And let’s not forget azodicarbonamide, used to make yoga mats.
Nota Bene: The farewell tour kicks off on Halloween, so it may be more “trick” than “treat.” The McRib may rise from the dead like the zombie meat it is in years to come.
More:
“McDonald’s McRib coming back for a ‘farewell tour,'” Kelly Tyko, Axios
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A new federal class action lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York alleges that Wendy’s and McDonald’s advertising exaggerates the size of their beef patties. The claims: McDonald’s ads use undercooked patties to make them look bigger, and Wendy’s ads pile toppings on their burgers so they look 15 percent to 20 percent larger than they really are.
Is it “food styling” or falsehood? Let the court decide. Don’t expect a fast fast-food decision, though.
More:
“McDonald’s, Wendy’s accused of beefing up burgers in ads,” María Luisa Paúl, Washington Post
“This is the photographic evidence presented in a lawsuit over fast-food burger sizes,” Michelle Cheng and Amanda Shendruk, Quartz
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The McRib is back. It’s a seasonal plague, like the flu.
Often mistaken for an innocent sandwich, the McR is composed of “Restructured Meat” made from pulverized and re-glued pig innards, ammonium sulfate, polysorbate 80, sodium benzoate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oils, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, soy flour, sodium stearoyl lactylate, ascorbic acid, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, calcium peroxide, calcium propionate,high fructose corn syrup, xanthan gum, and sodium benzoate. And let’s not forget azodicarbonamide, used to make yoga mats.
Want to see what it looks like before it’s covered in sauce? Sure? Okay then, look here.
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Video from Weird History.
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“Adult obesity rates in the US top 35% in some states. Meanwhile, the rate of obesity is 40% in Kuwait, 42% in Qatar, and 37% in the UAE, according to a 2016 report by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).”
” … one study cited by the EIU found Saudis aged 20–30 ate fast food on average three times or more per week. (Saudi Arabia took the 21st spot for the world’s highest BMI.) Saudis also get more than 30% of their sugar intake from soda, and in the UAE fast-food spending rose more than any other country in the world between 2000 and 2015, according to Euromonitor International.”
— “America’s obesity problem has spread to the Middle East,” Adam Rasmi, Quartz
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Durian, the notoriously stinky fruit of the Pacific, is featured at McDonald’s in Malaysia and Singapore in a McFlurry concoction. It’s made with the milder D24 durian, but even so, that’s no pumpkin spice latte. McD’s offers localized menus in many parts of it’s global empire. See ads for more far-flung fast food treats here.
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Back in August, Ted Cruz spokesperson Emily Miller called his Democratic political opponent Beto O’Rourke “a Triple Meat Whataburger liberal who is out of touch with Texas values.” The beef (ahem) started when the Fort Worth Star-Telegram claimed the O’Rouke logo looks like a Whataburger Spicy Ketchup packet.
Unlike Emily Miller (Baltimore) and Ted Cruz (Canada!), Whataburger and Beto O’Rourke were both born in Texas. So was film director Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused, Slacker), who calls out Mr. Cruz for his distinctly un-Texan affection for White Castle sliders:
California fast-food favorite, In-N-Out Burger, recently dished up something controversial on it’s secret menu: a $25,000 political contribution to the California Republican Party. That’s not all that surprising, given the religious conservatism of the family-owned business, but California Democrats found it hard to swallow, and some vowed to boycott the burger chain.
But wait, don’t put down that Double-Double. In-N-Out Burger also gave at least $50,000 to Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy, an outfit that aims to elect business-friendly Democrats to the state legislature.
So enjoy your drive-thru burger, Democrats. You want fries with that?
More:
“‘I’m gonna buy my staff In-N-Out,’ says top California Democrat who led calls for boycott,” Eric Ting, San Francisco Chronicle
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North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un reportedly wants a McDonald’s in Pyongyang. Guess he’s preparing for a Korean visit from U.S. Supreme Leader Donald Trump. In the meantime, you can get a burger at Pyongyang’s Munsu Water Park, but it will cost you $76. You want fries with that?
Actually, Kim Jong-un is said to fly in Big Macs from China for his own consumption, and the few ordinary North Koreans who have $2 to spare can get hamburger-like objects at Samtaesong Cooling Beverages in Pyongyang.
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