What will those fast-food people think of next?

[Fat Guy]

The idea here is not to bash, not to pontificate, not to right any wrongs. I was hoping we could have a place simply to express our admiration for the unbridled cleverness of the fast-food industry.

For example, today I noticed that Domino's is hyping its new American Classic Cheeseburger Pizza. "Tastes like a cheeseburger, only better because it's a pizza."

I've also got to give a shout out to Taco Bell for coming up with a word combination that we all should have thought of first: Enchirito.

[Gifted Gourmet]

article here

KFC is testing a new concept with a major update. Concept stores are going hip with new furniture, including ottomans for your feet, a jukebox that's always on and even a big Kentucky Fried Chicken sign instead of the current KFC signs.... The Colonel himself will also get a makeover, ditching the white suit for a red apron and a facelift to make him look younger.

To me, it is more a matter of whether one likes the chicken product ... apparently, I am too easy to please... and I do miss that whirling bucket ...

[mizducky]

This may mark me as being somewhat brain-dead, but I have gotten a kick out of Jack-in-the-Box commercials ever since they re-invented their corporate mascot as fast-talking Marketing-Suit Clown several years back. Every time I think they've sorta worn out that whole ad campaign, they come up with another chapter that cracks me up. Yeah, corporate marketing is Evil yadda yadda yadda ... but that doesn't mean it can't be damn funny, and someone down at JITB headquarters has definitely got their humor clown-hat on right.

Honorable mention for fast-food corporate marketing humor: the infamous Quizno's SpongMonkeys. I know, I know--you either loved those bits of Flash-animated roadkill, or you loathed them. I loved 'em--they just so totally subverted every single thing people try to teach you in Bland Innoffensive Marketing 101. (But then I knew of and loved rathergood.com long before its owner's creations got bought for that ad.)

Erm ... I suspect you might have been seeking comments on fast-food industry cleverness as regards their actual product rather than their marketing. I guess I just can't think of any fast-food *product* innovation that I find particularly clever.

Edited May 3, 2005 by mizducky (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

Dairy Queen has always been active in this important field:

The Beltbuster is a particularly alluring description of a delicious sandwich and the eventual result of enjoying this delight.

The Dilly Bar? An excellent description as they are, in fact, scrumpdillyicious. Especially the rare and hard to find cherry dilly.

And of course, the bizarrely named Moolatte.

[rjwong]

I've also got to give a shout out to Taco Bell for coming up with a word combination that we all should have thought of first: Enchirito.

←

Credit should be given again to Taco Bell when they first came up with the idea of that little dog saying, Yo quiero Taco Bell. Afterwards, everyone was jumping on that bandwagon.

[Grub]

I find it pretty hard to think of anything positive to say, except possibly, that In 'n Out supposedly treats their employees much better than most fast-food chains do... There, that's something...

Oh and something that MAY be an urban legend -- if anyone can confirm or deny this one, I'd love to hear it: Supposedly, when KFC came out with their Extra Crispy recipe, it was a failure. So, they increased the pricing -- just by a nickel or something or something like that. This gave customers the impression that Extra Crispy was a premium product, and who wouldn't want a premium product, for just a few pennies, right? So Extra Crispy took off in a huge way -- and eventually, they changed the price back to the same as Original Recipe... If this is true, I think that's pretty clever...

Finally, I guess it is admirable, in a twisted capitalistic sense, that the industry can make lots of money selling junk, har dy har...

[petite tête de chou]

Toys included with a meal purchase. Ingenious.

[Gifted Gourmet]

article here

* customers will be able to order their Big Macs and Quarter Pounders five ways: from a table, from the counter, from an on-site kiosk, from a drive-through and eventually from a cell phone ...

* The Zoom-through and Virtual Zoom-through are essentially faster drive-throughs. With the Zoom-through, there's no menu available, so customers have to know what they want.

* A digital camera will snap a picture of a vehicle and match the order to the car to cut down on order switches.

* The restaurant's new PlayPlace is more interactive than others in town. It will have a toy air traffic-control tower and a McDonald's kitchen, as well as a Nintendo and computer game kiosk for older kids.

[torakris]

No one does fast food as good as the Japanese!

Mos burger definitely leads the pack in creativity

their current menu

They have also just released the Takumi Judan burger that is selling for 1,000 yen (just under $10) the most expensive burger in Japanese fast food history.

This is the fourth round in the “Takumi” series of burgers, which started selling from August, 2003. The bun is made by an expert craftsman, with Australian beef, tomato, lettuce, bacon, egg, and more. Ten ingredients are piled on to make a 10 centimeter thick bacon and egg hamburger.

A Japanese-style demiglace sauce made from ingredients such as Kinzanji miso is included separately, and you can even eat with a knife and fork. A card with the name of the egg farmer and chef also accompanies the meal.

more from here

from another article

The tip-off that MOS Burger, a chain of more than 1,500 shops, is a little different (and very Japanese) is the blackboard at the entrance.

Resting on an artist's easel, it lists, in colorful pastels, the names of the farmers who grew the vegetables and the region where they were produced: From Nagasaki and Miyazaki prefectures, Mr. Harata, Mr. Furukawa and Mr. Nagatomo supplied the lettuce, cabbage and tomato; from Hokkaido, Mr. Kashiwaba supplied the onion.

[ludja]

article here

KFC is testing a new concept with a major update. Concept stores are going hip with new furniture, including ottomans for your feet, a jukebox that's always on and even a big Kentucky Fried Chicken sign instead of the current KFC signs.... The Colonel himself will also get a makeover, ditching the white suit for a red apron and a facelift to make him look younger.

To me, it is more a matter of whether one likes the chicken product ... apparently, I am too easy to please... and I do miss that whirling bucket ...

←

Even better, a KFC on El Camino in Palo Alto, CA has a glassed in outside corner of the building, within which, peering out at you, is a lifesize Colonel Sanders in his glorious white seersucker suit. Hope they don't get rid of that!!!

[torakris]

Even better, a KFC on El Camino in Palo Alto, CA has a glassed in outside corner of the building, within which, peering out at you, is a lifesize Colonel Sanders in his glorious white seersucker suit.  Hope they don't get rid of that!!!

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You mean not all KFC's have life size plastic statues of Colonel Sanders??

They do in Japan and even better is that as Christmas they dress the statues up like santa.....

My poor husband grew up thinking Colonel Sanders was Santa Claus.

Guess what the most popular food in Japan is at Christmas???

Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Now that was some good marketing.

[michaeldauphinais]

Taco Bell cancels itself out with word use, IMHO - they used to have the aptly named "Chilito" on their menu (I believe this is now simply "bean burrito"), yet stoop to verbal redundance with "Cheese Quesadilla".

Oh, well.

[michaeldauphinais]

Taco Bell cancels itself out with word use, IMHO - they used to have the aptly named "Chilito" on their menu (I believe this is now simply "bean burrito"), yet stoop to verbal redundance with "Cheese Quesadilla".

Oh, well.

[michaeldauphinais]

Taco Bell cancels itself out with word use, IMHO - they used to have the aptly named "Chilito" on their menu (I believe this is now simply "bean burrito"), yet stoop to verbal redundance with "Cheese Quesadilla".

Oh, well.

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And I myself seem to have stooped to a different sort of redundance, namely hitting "post" twice. Whoops!

[mark918]

The Chilito was a chili cheese burrito, and is now called the Chili Cheese burrito. Someone must have told them that chilito is Mexican slang for a male body part.

[NulloModo]

Oh where to begin...

First off, a local (mid-atlantic based) chain - Cluck-U. Besides the vaguely offensive sounding name, they make a big deal about their '911 Wing Challenge' (though I'm sure they weren't the first wing joint to come out with this). The challenge is to eat 6 of their hottest chicken wings without drinking anything for 20 minutes. If you can do it, you get a photo of yourself on the wall and a chance to buy a t-shirt... so why is this such a genius move? Stick one in the middle of a college town (which is where most are) and you can just bet that coming out of the bars at 2am you will have lots of drunken fools just dying to give this a try, and of course it draws all of their friends in or order other stuff while they watch as well... turned Cluck-U into one of the biggest late-night places, at least around here.

2nd - Have to give lots of credit to hardees, subway, and In-&-Out for their willingness to make life a little easier for the low-carb crowd. I suppose the Protein Style In-&-Out burger takes first honors, but subways wraps and Hardees Low-Carb lettuce wrapped burgers and great LC breakfast bowl always make roadtrips easier in those areas.

[Pan]

Oh where to begin...

First off, a local (mid-atlantic based) chain - Cluck-U.[...]

←

We have Pluck U (short for Pluck University) in New York. Pretty decent Buffalo wings there, last time I checked (which was some time ago).

[Busboy]

The Big Mac is a thing of beauty.

[hjshorter]

I nominate the Egg McMuffin. Surprisingly edible, and self-contained enough to scarf in the car on road trips.

[Patrick S]

How about the McGriddle? Sandwichs on pancake buns with built-in syrup globules. Very innovative.

Edited May 3, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Daniel]

Its interesting to see the different ways they have invented to serve us without us having to do any sort of moving.. From people delivering food on skates, drive-thrus, delivering to the home, to the grand finale of a timed delivery.. Fast food wont be happy until they have police like substations positioned throughout residential neighborhoods... I think the next possible step would be for McDonalds to have food trucks driving around and parking on your drive way or outside your office.. That might be the next idea...

I also love Taco Bells commercials where they brag about how full they get you on a dollar.. The last Taco Bell i went to was to watch three of my stoned friends have a hundred taco eating contest 12 years ago.. Just the thought of being really really full from something they made, is really gross to me..

Edited May 3, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[jglazer75]

Two smartest things ever:

1. $.99 Junior Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy's. No one makes a better burger for that price.

Except:

2. The Rally's CheddarBurger for $.69. Gooey, fake, cheese-like substance with sauteed onions mixed in just smothering a patty. When I was in college (and active enough not to phased by such things) I would routinely eat 5 of them for my entire dinner. It's too bad Rally's never really caught on outside of Ohio/Michigan. There were a few in Illinois, but they seem to have all gone now. In fact, does Rally's exist at ALL anymore??

The Wendy's $.99 menu was genius; the best thing about it is that they have things that people would actually want to eat priced at $.99. I know when McD's and Burger King first put out their $.99 menus there wasn't anything worth eating on it - just crappy yogurt parfaits and their hamburgers and cheeseburgers which they had only charged $.79 for before they were put on the $.99 menu. Who the hell wants a yogurt parfait from McDs?!?

[touaregsand]

My poor husband grew up thinking Colonel Sanders was Santa Claus.

Speaking of enchiritos and chilitos

Jack in the Box has the Pannido.

As for the McGriddle I actually tried. It reminded me of the Monte Cristo Sandwich.

[touaregsand]

In fact, does Rally's exist at ALL anymore??

I've seen a few in LA. I know for certain that one of them is still open.

Are they the only fast food place that serves sloppy joes?

[Daniel]

White castle also had something really cool.. I dont know if this carried true for all of them ,but on Bell Blvd in Queens New York there was a White Castle Radio Station.. You could set your radio to an AM setting and you could here white castle propaganda.. It was a really novel idea.