Another Saturday, another edition of Fast Food Week! This time we’ve got a pair of Yuletide specials from Burger King and KFC, neither of which involve edibles. There’s also flurry of beverage deals from Starbucks’, Dunkin’s and Nescafé. And a unique vending machine concept…
Burger King’s festive Yuletide ‘King of Fire Screens’:
Complete with char-broiled customers?
Say ‘Merry Chicksmas’ with KFC Fire Log
KFC has remained a leader in seasonal and just-for-the-fun-of-it promotions in the Fast Food Sector for the past several years. Remember the Finger-Lickin’ Good Nail Polish? Now, KFC is celebrating the festive season with an artificial Fire Log that makes your home smell like Fried Chicken. Get it while they last at the KFC online store for ‘just’ (US)$18.99. If you’re wondering, it’s made by Envirolog, leaders in their field.
Team up the KFC Log with BK’s new Fireplace Screen
Burger King – not to be outdone by KFC, is offering what it calls The King of Fire Screens for the holidays. It’s full-sized and made if cast iron, weighs 29 lb. / 13.8 kg, and will cost you a cool (US)$99. on Amazon. It’s in the shape of a Burger King store, complete with customer silhouettes that can be viewed through the large front window. The idea is to showcase BK’s flame-broiled specialties, but the first thing I thought of, when I saw the photo, was that it was a pic of a BK burning down with people trapped inside.
Taco Bell readying new Value Menus
You’ll probably need a break from Turkey by December 27, and Taco Bell has just the thing for you: a new Value Cravings Menu. It’s got a slew of (US)$1 specials and $5 boxes. The dollar items include a Grande Burrito that comes in two versions. The Chicken wrap is stuffed with shredded Chicken, Red Sauce, Mexican Rice, reduced fat Sour Cream, and shredded Cheese. The Three-Cheese version features the Bell’s signature Seasoned Beef, Nacho Cheese Sauce, Red Tortilla strips, reduced fat Sour Cream, and a shredded Three Cheese Blend.
Nescafé launches take-with-you Whipped Lattés
Nescafé débuts what it calls its new ‘unique foaming technology’ with two flavours of Whipped Lattés in 10 oz. / 295 ml bottles in all the usual supermarkets and convenience stores. Choose from Regular Coffee or French Vanilla. The instructions say to shake the unopened bottle 10 times before cracking the seal. Those who’ve tried it say the foam head thus produced is not bad. They also note that the Nescafé bevs are somewhat thicker than the usual barrista-made Latté; more like melted Milk Shakes. That’s fine with me!
Dunkin’ brings back Girl Scout Cookie Favour Shots
This time around, they’ve got a new Trefoils Shortbread flavor along with last year’s Coconut Caramel and Thin Mint coffee shots. They’ll arrive at all Dunkin’ locations by the end of this month and will remain available through early spring. Note: Ordering a GSC flavour shot does not count as having bought your Girl Scout Cookies!
A month of Free Coffee!
Starbucks’ is offering a month of free Coffee at participating U.S. locations. Buy the new deluxe reusable 16 fl. oz. / 475 ml thermal Coffee tumbler for (US)$40. and bring it in anytime during the month of January to a participating location to get free Brewed Hot Coffee or Brewed Hot Tea. Sounds like a nice holiday gift for the Caffeine fiend on your list. A month of Brewed Coffee at Starbucks costs about (US)$75, so, in reality, you might also look at it as a month of half-priced Coffee with a free tumbler at the end.
Cramming Students get Bacon vending machine
Students at Ohio State university are in the midst of their end-of-term exams and, as we all know, cramming kids also tend to cram junk food when pulling their all-nighters. So, the Ohio Pork Council grasped the opportunity to serve the students by serving something different. They installed a Bacon vending machine in the Animal Science building at Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. It dispenses bags of ready-to-eat Bacon from four different Ohio makers for just (US)$1 apiece. Will somebody check back and tell us if the kids’ grades improved?
And that’s the skinny…
…On what’s going to make some of us a but thicker (in the middle) this holiday season. Back in seven for another Fast Food News roundup!
~ Maggie J.