Category Archives: Food

From Zero to One Thousand to Zero- The Rise and Fall of Howard Johnson’s

In the modern world, if you step out your door and travel to neighboring cities or even countries, you’ll generally be greeted by a slew of familiar food related franchises for your respective region, with some of the most popular in the world today including McDonald’s, Subway, Starbucks, KFC, Dunkin, and the like. In all of these, with some small […]

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When and Why did McDonald’s Start “Super Sizing” Meals? (Plus: The Myths of “Super Size Me”)

In March of 2004, fast-food giant McDonald’s announced the end of an era. By the end of the year, customers at the chain’s more than 13,000 U.S. restaurants would no longer be hearing those iconic words: “Would you like to super-size that?” Since its introduction in the summer of 1987, super-sizing has become an iconic part of the McDonald’s brand […]

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How WWII Created One of the World’s Most Popular Soft Drinks

Fanta is among of the world’s most popular and beloved soft drinks, being sold in over 188 countries and over 150 flavours, including Lime, Pineapple, Elderflower, Peach-Apricot, Watermelon, Blackcurrant, and – the most popular by far – orange. For over 75 years the brand has dominated the soft drink market in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan, […]

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How Long Do Twinkies Actually Last?

Imagine, for a moment that the unthinkable has happened. Whether due to nuclear war, climate change, an asteroid impact, or one too many classic 80’s movies being remade, society has utterly collapsed, leaving only a handful of survivors clinging to life amid the rubble of civilization. Every day, you and your loyal – if mildly radioactive – dog set forth […]

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Rags to Riches- The Jr High Dropout Who Created a Tasty, Tasty Billion Dollar Empire

In 1847 at the tender age of 16, seaman Hanson Gregory looked at some frying dough and said, “Everything is better with holes”… except his ship hull probably… and created the staple of breakfasts the diabetes lovin’ world over- the doughnut! Or so the story goes anyway. In truth, Captain Gregory’s account of how and why he supposedly invented the […]

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How Cap’n Crunch Gave the World the iPhone and the Surprisingly Heated Debate Over Whether He’s Really a Captain

Anyone who has seen Mad Men knows that the 1960s in America were a time of unmitigated consumerism. Advertising was largely unregulated—a fact that continues to influence certain industries. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the cereal aisle. Several mainstays of the canonically fuzzy cereal multiverse have their origins in the Wild West period of children’s marketing: Lucky the […]

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The Da Vinci of Fast-Food: The One Guy Behind a Huge Number of Staple Fast-Food Items Everyone Loves

If you’ve ever found yourself eating a “special” brownie or two and not long after have an insatiable urge to partake in a stuffed crust meat lover’s pizza, followed by a couple McDonald’s McGriddles, a Quiznos Steakhouse Beef Dip Sub, and then finish it all off with a McFlurry or a Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait, well, it turns out you […]

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How Much Would it Cost to Fill a Swimming Pool With Booze? Has Anyone Ever Actually Done This?

JohnJohn asks: Has anyone ever really filled a pool with alcohol? Several hotels around the world catering to the uber-wealthy offer a bizarrely specific package that offers customers the chance to float around in a hot tub filled with champagne. As pleasant as it sounds to have your nether regions soak in warm bubbly, you’d think someone, somewhere would have […]

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Do Drunk People Really Survive Car Crashes More?

Brexstacular asks: Why don’t drunk drivers get injured very often in wrecks? There are seemingly never ending news stories involving the mug shot of a drunk driver mostly unharmed after getting in an accident. Meanwhile, their victims are left fighting for their lives, or worse, already dead.  The perception from this is that somehow being drunk will protect you from […]

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