Business

Burger King got served -- by independent regulator of sales promotions in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The agency ruled against the fast food company's Tendercrisp campaign, alleging the television advertisements may mislead customers to believe the chicken burgers are heftier than the reality of their drive-through counterparts. The commercial in question features a man shacked up in a motel with a substantially portioned and prettily composed Cheesy Bacon Tendercrisp.

The ASA stated that they "examined the size of the burgers in the hands of an average-sized man and considered they did not fill the hands to the same extent as the burger featured in the ad."

Consumers are often reeled in by the promise of juicy, chargrilled burgers and crisp, golden fries, which are often artful illusions created by food stylists (professional "make up artist for food," Jennifer Eustock proudly demonstrates some techniques here). A debate among food stylists as to whether "dirty tricks" should be employed when prepping food products exists in the blogosphere. One blog cleverly captured the disparity between these doctored food products and the soggy, foil-wrapped reality.

A London-based non-profit agency is accusing Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs of manipulating commodities markets and driving up the price of food, but Goldman says the charge is "disingenuous and downright misleading," The Daily Telegraph reported.

The World Development Movement launched an on-line campaign "to persuade the public to report Goldman to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as the biggest bank allegedly distorting commodities markets," the U.K.-based paper reported.

WDM organizers told the Telegraph they want to see the ability of banks and hedge funds to trade in commodity futures limited. The organization recently published a report called "The Great Hunger Lottery: How Banking Speculation Causes Food Crises," which alleges that banks and hedge funds "gamble on hunger."

Goldman Sachs calls the report "horribly misinformed on a number of fronts."

Is it your dream to become a restaurateur? Or to travel the world? Now you can fulfill both wishes thanks to Muvbox, a "partially-solar-powered, 12,000-pound shipping container that transforms into a restaurant with seating areas shaded by large awnings." The Transformer-like concept boxes are made to order, so any restless chef could give their eatery a go on one continent, and then ship it across the world and start anew.

Head over to Eater to read more about the Muvbox, and see a video of its amazing assembly.
[Eater]

Dream of seeing your artwork on every Chiquita Banana in the grocery store?

The thought probably never crossed your mind until right now. Well, timing is everything: Chiquita Banana is holding a Sticker Design Contest to revamp its look, Unbeige reported.

The contest runs through July 18 and would-be sticker designers can upload their art to the Web. Contest rules stipulate that entries should not have any "Inclusion or reference to Miss Chiquita" nor can they have any writing or text.

Also be sure to avoid material Chiquita could deem "inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous or libelous."

What's powerful enough to stop the growing armada of 10-ton gourmet food trucks trolling the streets of our great American cities? Looks like the answer may be bureaucratic red tape.

As reported yesterday, the first of what appears to be the next generation of food trucks (essentially, a double-decker bus converted into a sit-down restaurant) began cruising the streets of LA last month. But an investigation by the county health department may put the skids on the "bustaurant" trend before it really even begins.

Now New Yorkers who have come to crave such food truck fare as Marrakech lamb (Bistro Truck), cod schnitzel (Schnitzel & Things), and warm molten chocolate cake (Dessert Truck) are bracing for the prospect of imminent withdrawal. According to The Wall Street Journal's Metropolis blog (and originally reported by Midtown Lunch), two NYC councilwomen have proposed a sort of three strikes law for food trucks: three parking violations, and you're out of business.

McDonald's might be the home of a smiling clown and friendly "I'm lovin' it" ads, but when it comes to defending their trademarks, they're notoriously ruthless.

Erin Wade and Allison Arevalo, friends and small business owners in Oakland, CA, recently discovered it's unwise to tread on anything the burger giant considers a trademark. The duo planned to name their restaurant -- a neighborhood joint featuring macaroni and cheese made from artisanal cheeses and local ingredients -- Little Mac. But last week, corporate counsel for the Golden Arches nixed the name, claiming that the word "mac" is the intellectual property of McDonalds.

Wade says they were stunned: "We were like, wait a minute, we're a mac and cheese shop and we can't use the word 'mac' at all?"

Yelp helps you find a restaurant but doesn't let you book. OpenTable allows you to make reservations at a restaurant but doesn't make any recommendations or suggestions.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Why don't these two kids get together and make some magic for us to macerate.

Good news they have. According to an article in the New York Times, Yelp and OpenTable are joining forces for the power of good dining. Find a restaurant you want to go to through Yelp and make the reservation right there through Open Table using your Yelp account. You no longer have to use your OpenTable account just your Yelp one.

If a tantalizing photo of a juicy, well-peppered steak isn't enough to entice you (they don't call it 'food porn' for nothing), perhaps your sense of smell will make your mouth water?

A billboard for the Bloom Grocery chain in central North Carolina is testing this form of temptation by not only featuring a larger-than-life photo of a perfectly pink steak, but also pumping out the smell of black pepper and charcoal.

Before you start thinking, "Fire hazard!," note that these scents are actually manufactured by the company ScentAir Technologies, who typically create custom fragrances for places like casinos and hotels.

Read about the technology behind this olfactory-enhanced advertising campaign and find out how long drivers on N.C. 150 will be seduced by the smell of grilling over at HuffPost Food.

If you've been fan of Domino's over the past 50 years, your judgment might be a little off. Perhaps you were charmed by the promise of 30 minute guaranteed delivery or the company's warm and fuzzy Midwestern backstory (it's based in Ann Arbor, Michigan), but you certainly weren't enjoying the pizza. The company's new philosophy is: "We changed our crust, sauce and cheese. And hopefully your mind."

So who was eating all that pizza? With more than 9,000 stores worldwide, of course Domino's had a few fans, but following a new US recipe launch in December of 2009, they've captured several thousand more.

Fast-food chains frequently add and change recipes to be "new and improved," but Domino's newest pie was accompanied by an almost subversive style of branding. The company launched a series of self-critical ads, including the documentary-style "Turnaround" commercial. We see Domino's employees' faces fall while watching brutally honest focus groups berate the cardboard-like crust and processed cheese. One test-kitchen chef explains the difficulty in facing such harsh commentary, having made the pizza for the better part of two decades.

To the owners of the Plaza hotel, Todd English is worth more than a washing machine.

Miki Naftali, the chief executive of the Elad Group (the owners of the Plaza Hotel on the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan), admitted as much during a preview opening of English's new Food Hall in an underground space at the hotel.
As guests tucked into prime-rib sliders, cumin-seared prawns and English's haute version of the Ring Ding in the warmly-lit and high-ceilinged space, Naftali said that when his group took over the hotel in 2004, the space was a dank and decrepit laundry room.

Now, about $4 million later and with the help of architectural designer Jeffrey Beers, it boasts stations doling out dumplings, oysters, sushi, salads, steaks and desserts. The former laundry room now dubbed "The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English" has 80 seats total, but no tables, just bar seats where diners can interact with cooks.

And the hotel has outsourced almost all of its dirty laundry. "There is no reason to do laundry in one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in New York," Naftali said.