An Apple a Day...

I've recently picked up a semi-lame habit. When I order something at a restaurant that is accompanied by french fries, I've been substituting them for a side salad instead. While I'm the self-proclaimed queen of fried food, I've tried to steer clear of anything that will give me a serious case of eaters remorse the next day.

But let's be honest here- when I do choose to eat fries, I will go all out. Sweet potato fries and garlic fries in particular. Imagine my dismay when I saw that Burger King (oops, "BK") is going to be selling apple fries: raw apples cut to look like french fries. Are we so desperate to get kids to eat fruit that they must now look like something deep fried? And if parents are hoping to introduce fruits and vegetables into their family's diets, I'm guessing they should be turning away from fast food restaurants in the first place (unless you are in a dire road trip situation, of course!).

I hope that my zucchini isn't going to start masquerading as cheeseburgers.

Getting to the Bottom of the Big Mac

Slashfood, by way of Food for Thought (Food Network's Canadian counterpart) has reported that McDonald's has just hired "Mom bloggers" to visit the company's facilities, restaurants and kitchens and then blog about their experiences. I can't imagine that they will actually write anything negative (I'm expecting a lot of "I can't wait to go eat some McNuggets now!") but I could be completely wrong.

You can visit the McDonald's Moms' Quality Correspondents here. The site will obviously have more content once they start posting their online journals and videos, but for now you can read their bios and find out more about the program as well. I find it fascinating that the blogosphere has emerged as a legitimate vehicle for PR as well as marketing- even for the top brands in the world.

In an attempt to combine viral marketing with social networking and corporate transparency, McDonald's may find that people would rather not know what is in their Filet O'Fish. Or maybe this is trying to be the great Morgan Spurlock rebuttal?


Hey Mom, where do McNuggets come from?