Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1

[mamster]

Okay, I did it. I tried the sandwich. I printed the $1 off coupon. I figured it couldn't be as bad as people on this thread said. Boy was I wrong.

The "baguette" was, let's say, "finish-underbaked". It was pure white--worse than Wonder Bread and much worse than the regular BK hamburger bun. And lost in the discussion of the sodium content of the sandwich is the fact that it is way too salty. And I love salt. I don't think the Santa Fe Chicken has an unhealthy level of sodium, but it sure has an untasty level. The vegetables are mushy and a bizarre gray color, apparently to simulate being charred on a grill or in a saute pan. The "salsa" is sweet and boring. The chicken is also mushy and flavorless. The whole sandwich kind of compresses into a doughy lump when you bite it.

Bad move, Bayless.

[Jinmyo]

What I would like to see is for more people to report on either the TV advert or the sandwich. Or both.

[Fat Guy]

Sigh. Jinmyo, I'm sorry, but being a Jennifer Garner fanatic I watched and taped Daredevil last night but fell asleep before the end (once she gets killed off there's no reason to continue watching). Unfortunately, this meant I didn't get to stop the tape before Alias got overwritten. So when I went just now to make a transcript of the ad, I found myself with nothing but a tape full of pay-per-view ads.

Can somebody else, who watches more TV than I (which would be most people), please please please get this thing on tape and give us an annotated transcript? It's only a 30-second ad. It shouldn't be hard to log it.

[=Mark]

I think Jason & FG should try to get Rick B. to come and do an eGullet Q&A...

[ronnie_suburban]

Can somebody else, who watches more TV than I (which would be most people), please please please get this thing on tape and give us an annotated transcript? It's only a 30-second ad. It shouldn't be hard to log it.

I don't know if it's by design or random circumstance, but here in the Chicago market I've seen one ad for the sandwich many times (it's on during baseball) but it isn't the one with RB in it. I'll keep an eye out for it.

=R=

Edited October 7, 2003 by ronnie_suburban (log)

[snowangel]

Okay, I did it. I tried the sandwich. I printed the $1 off coupon. I figured it couldn't be as bad as people on this thread said. Boy was I wrong.

They must be desperate. Included in one of those "circulars" with ads and coupons for everything from fast food to insurance to siding were coupons for these sandwiches -- for the first two weeks a free Santa Fe Chicken Baguette, second two weeks a free Savory Mustard Chicken Baguette, and third two weeks for a smoky BBQ Chicken Baguette. Free. Not a buy one, get one free. That is not common.

The ad clearly stresses the low fat nature, with some tiny letters (stating that "these sandwiches are not low sodium foods...").

Now, I often think free can be a good thing. My free McDonald's premium salad was not a bad freebie. I'm not sure that it's worth a stop at BK for these things.

[hannnah]

Can somebody else, who watches more TV than I (which would be most people), please please please get this thing on tape and give us an annotated transcript? It's only a 30-second ad. It shouldn't be hard to log it.

Assuming our TiVo hasn't deleted it yet, I've still got Alias, with advert, and will see what I can do about a transcript.

[FoodMan]

What I would like to see is for more people to report on either the TV advert or the sandwich. Or both.

I did watch Alias on Sunday and I saw the ad but did not record it (sorry FG). It basically shows RB in some grocery store looking through fresh veggies while talking to the camera and handeling Poblanos and tomatoes and such , then he says something to the effect that he found good food, then he is sitting down in what looks like a Food Court and biting into a VERY GOOD LOOKING sandwich with a plump chicken breast topped with a chunky salsa. From what I gathered from the ones who have tried this thing is that the real deal looks nothing like the TV ad. So I am staying away from it and am not planning on trying it anytime soon.

FM

[VeryApe77]

I finally saw the ad this weekend....about 6 times. It was on Comedy Central on just about every commercial break. Sad to say that I am a little busy right now, but I have to say that the best bit is when Mr. Bayliss ("2-time chef of the year" according to the subtitle) announces that the sandwich contains "the kind of Chicken you just can't resist when it's been char-broiled over a red-hot grill".

Oh, THAT kind of chicken.

Edited October 7, 2003 by VeryApe77 (log)

[tommy]

but I have to say that the best bit is when Mr. Bayliss ("2-time chef of the year" according to the subtitle) announces that the sandwich contains "the kind of Chicken you just can't resist when it's been char-broiled over a red-hot grill".

yes yes, 2-timing chef bayless.

[Jinmyo]

It's at the transition from the store (after holding up a poblano and saying, "POH-BLAH-NOH!") to the sandwich that is the crux, the nib, the gist if you will. My memory is that he more or less says, "Eh. Why bother? You can just go buy this instead."

[FoodMan]

"the kind of Chicken you just can't resist when it's been char-broiled over a red-hot grill".

As Alton Brown would say about "Char-Grilling": "Soot, is not a valid flavor!"

Jin-

I am not sure he said THAT, but then again I only saw the damn thing once so I could be wrong.

FM

[eliotmorgan]

If you go to the Burger King site (http://www.burgerking.com/) you can watch a Bayless-less version of the offending sandwich anc check related nutritional data.

[Janedujour]

What I would like to see is for more people to report on either the TV advert or the sandwich. Or both.

Yes, I've seen it too many times. Probably on Comedy Central (Crank Yankers or Daily Show) and also during Alias. From what I remember:

Bayless walking briskly through a vegetable market as if shopping says something like "We're here at Los Angeles' _?(open air?)___market, in search of the freshest ingredients. For the salsa, fresh POH-Blah-NO peppers, tomatoes, and then that kind of chicken(cut to picture of steamy chicken breast with grill marks) you just can't resist when it's been char broiled over a red hot grill" Cut to Rick sitting at a table holding the sandwich with Burger King neon sign behind him and says "Hey, this didn't take as long as I thought!" Big bite of sandwich. the end...

(Can't remember if ""baguette""was featured in this one too.)

Very subtle/sneaky because he never says the words Burger King or Santa Fe chicken sandwich, or healthy, or natural, or organic, or antibiotic free, or environmentally aware or OH SORRY, I forgot . It's a Burger King commercial.

[Jinmyo]

Janedejour, excellent. Thank you.

So he doesn't quite say "why bother" but does make them equivalent.

[Janedujour]

Exactly Jinmyo.

In other words, the "message to the masses"this commercial gives hasn't changed one bit: "shit, why take all the trouble to buy all this stuff and make it from scratch when I can just go to BK and have it "MY WAY?"

Yuk.

I tried once again to find a link to "Mother Earth News" Oct/Nov. issue. It's featured on the site but no link to the article "From Farms to Five Stars". Damn! It's all about Bayless and the CC. Great article. I have the actual magazine. Try to find a copy.

p.s. for fun this weekend I duplicated from scratch my sons favorite Campbells chunky vegetable soup. I used real chicken stock, tomatoes,fresh carrots, beans, corn, peas and potatos. It was great. And really didn't take much time at all.

That's the message Bayless should be giving!

[Toliver]

What I would like to see is for more people to report on either the TV advert or the sandwich. Or both.

I've seen the RB-BK spot once. It looked very similar to his PBS show where he's wandering the stalls of the farmers market looking for fresh ingredients for whatever he's about to cook. Coincidence? I think not.

And, given the previous discussion of this in this thread, it's my impression that he distinctly does NOT take a bite of the sandwich at the end. Yes, it looks like he is about to...he has his mouth open and the sandwich in there as if he's going to take a bite, but there's no "bite action". This sandwich is just...in his mouth. It struck me as pretty odd now that I think of it. Perhaps he was tired of taking "real" bites in earlier takes and so he just faked it in the take they used in the spot.

[tommy]

My memory is that he more or less says, "Eh. Why bother? You can just go buy this instead."

he says "whaddaya know. this isn't going to take as long as i thought."

the "this", i'd imagine, being the final product after hunting down all of the ingredients, ostensibly to make it yourself. although there's now mission statement at the beginning of the piece. he's just talking about ingredients. all very tricky those BK people are. very tricky indeed.

Edited October 8, 2003 by tommy (log)

[tommy]

Yes, it looks like he is about to...he has his mouth open and the sandwich in there as if he's going to take a bite, but there's no "bite action".  This sandwich is just...in his mouth.  It struck me as pretty odd now that I think of it.

what percentage of fast food commercials show actual bite action?

[Fat Guy]

You've got to admit, buying it at BK does save a whole lot of time over buying all those ingredients at a store. After all, you'd have to buy Maltodextrin, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Powder, Disodium Guanylate & Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Modified Food Starch, Soy Protein Concentrate, Sodium Phosphates, Monosodium Glutamate, Methyl Cellulose, Modified Potato Starch, Xanthan Gum, Caramel Color, "Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and Cotton Seed Oil)," Smoke Flavor, Soy Lecithin, and "Natural flavors from animal and plant sources." That's a lot of stuff, and you probably have to buy most of it in 50-gallon drums to get a good price. Thanks, Burger King and Rick!

[tommy]

After all, you'd have to buy Maltodextrin, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Powder, Disodium Guanylate & Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Modified Food Starch, Soy Protein Concentrate, Sodium Phosphates, Monosodium Glutamate, Methyl Cellulose, Modified Potato Starch, Xanthan Gum, Caramel Color, "Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and Cotton Seed Oil)," Smoke Flavor, Soy Lecithin, and "Natural flavors from animal and plant sources."

well duh. this is egullet, and as you might imagine most of us have that stuff stocked in our pantries already.

[elyse]

You've got to admit, buying it at BK does save a whole lot of time over buying all those ingredients at a store. After all, you'd have to buy Maltodextrin, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Powder, Disodium Guanylate & Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Modified Food Starch, Soy Protein Concentrate, Sodium Phosphates, Monosodium Glutamate, Methyl Cellulose, Modified Potato Starch, Xanthan Gum, Caramel Color, "Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and Cotton Seed Oil)," Smoke Flavor, Soy Lecithin, and "Natural flavors from animal and plant sources." That's a lot of stuff, and you probably have to buy most of it in 50-gallon drums to get a good price. Thanks, Burger King and Rick!

AND you'd have to replace those every... six months is it?

[Fat Guy]

I definitely have all that stuff in my pantry. The problem is that I'd need a particle accelerator, a centrifuge, an electromagnetic rail gun, and an X-ray laser anti-ballistic missile satellite to separate them out from the various junk-food products in which they're currently bound up.

[tommy]

I definitely have all that stuff in my pantry. The problem is that I'd need a particle accelerator, a centrifuge, an electromagnetic rail gun, and an X-ray laser anti-ballistic missile satellite to separate them out from the various junk-food products in which they're currently bound up.

i think "the clip" would help you there.

[hollywood]

I definitely have all that stuff in my pantry. The problem is that I'd need a particle accelerator, a centrifuge, an electromagnetic rail gun, and an X-ray laser anti-ballistic missile satellite to separate them out from the various junk-food products in which they're currently bound up.

i think "the clip" would help you there.

Posing the question whether an electromagnetic clip would be superior to a mere alnico magnetic clip. Or, should we just hold out for blue kryptonite (sure, it might be a problem for the Man of Steel, but what about the rest of us? Hell, he probably doesn't drink anyway.)?