Burger King’s secret cameras stun customers

Posted by Chris Benjamin in Marketing Mar 26th, 2010 | No Comments

See the original article at cnet News.

Surveillance cameras can be such a menace. We never really know these days whether someone is spying on us doing intimate, personal, but often necessary things.

Burger King in Brazil decided that, perhaps, a little surveillance might go a long way to create a large amount of customer loyalty.

You might think that their promise that you can "Have It Your Way" would not be entirely conducive to the use of secret cameras. However, in a very nifty and personal touch, they photographed customers secretly while they were ordering their burgers and then printed the customers’ pictures on the wrapper.

I can imagine this interesting procedure might have slowed service just a fraction.

But the pleasure that people experienced on seeing their own face covering a large slab of pleasantly greasy meat, possibly defrosted bread and the condiments of a distant chef shows that the personal touch is, without question, very much alive.

Just imagine how many people would leap beyond the boundaries of their local Apple store, if, when they picked up their brand new delectable iPad, it came with their own picture on the box.

Dip and Squeeze: Heinz Reinvents the Ketchup Packet

Posted by Chris Benjamin in Food Feb 22nd, 2010 | No Comments

For years, we who partake in fast food have been stuck with a dilemma when it comes to dunking our fries in ketchup: We’d have to empty the packet onto the paper on the tray. Or put it on a napkin that may have already been touched by lord knows who. Tasty, tasty way to catch H1N1 perhaps!?

Thankfully, the good people at Heinz have–after 30 years–heard our plea. They have redesigned the ketchup packet, and there shall be much rejoicing in the streets.

The new packet can be opened in not one, but two ways. The end can be torn away so the ketchup can be a topping on, say, a burger (or Cap’n Crunch, if that’s your thing). But the really cool part is that the other end rips away to create a dunking container for fries, one of the most popular applications for ketchup.

Seattle ketchup enthusiast Jonathan Fuchs told me he loves the new design. "This is progress," he said. "I think the world is becoming a better place."

Maybe it’s not the most radical of designs–McDonald’s has had dunking containers for its McNuggets for years–but it is noteworthy that a corporation like Heinz looked at the design of one of its best-known products and determined it was time for a redesign.

It’s good to know that my children will never know a world where you have to smear ketchup on a napkin to enjoy your fries.

See the original article at Crave and CrunchGear.

10 Best Hamburger Fantasies Become A Reality

Posted by Chris Benjamin in Food, Strange Feb 27th, 2009 | No Comments

Sushi is so 2006 and bacon is totally 2008, but what random food fad is on the cool horizon this year? Burgers. Why burgers? They’re as all-American as you can get – even more American than apple pie and baseball, which are really just variations of German and British inventions respectively. Plus, they’re a great compliment for 2008′s just passing trend, bacon.