Omnivore Atlanta

Whoa! Subway is about to overtake McDonald’s. OK, we’re not talking sales; we’re talking number of locations, but still..:

Restaurant upstart Subway, riding high on the marketing message of healthy fast food, will overtake its titanic competitor McDonald’s in American store locations by the end of 2009, with a shocking total of more than 32,300 outlets.

That’s something few consumers could imagine before the sandwich chain piggybacked on huge weight loss of morbidly obese Jared Fogle — who lost 245 pounds by exercising and eating only its sandwiches, in contrast to Super Size Me’s Morgan Spurlock, who got fat and sick eating McDonald’s grub.

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Here’s another example of human weirdness. Just thinking about eating a salad gives you permission to eat French fries instead:

Just seeing a salad on the menu seems to push some consumers to make a less healthy meal choice, according to a Duke University researcher.

It’s an effect called “vicarious goal fulfillment,” in which a person can feel a goal has been met if they have taken some small action, like considering the salad without ordering it, said Gavan Fitzsimons, professor of marketing and psychology at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, who led the research.

In a lab experiment, participants possessing high levels of self-control related to food choices (as assessed by a pre-test) avoided french fries, the least healthy item on a menu, when presented with only unhealthy choices. But when a side salad was added to this menu, they became much more likely to take the fries.

No wonder Mickey D’s and others have added salads to their menus!

(Graphic courtesy of Find Fitness Here.)

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What a grim photograph. The soldiers are protecting the presidential house in Honduras, following the recent coup. But the background probably says quite a bit about America’s actual interest in preserving democracy in the beleaguered nation.

(Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters, courtesy of BAGNewsNotes, a terrific site that analyzes images related to current events.)

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Enraged man calls 911 after being allegedly short-changed by McDonald’s.

(Hat tip, Michael Saunders)

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(Hat tip to Patricia Tinsley)

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Free fat! They’re not addictive. You won’t want anything more. We promise:

Next week provides a golden opportunity for Atlantans craving one of the most famous foods from McDonald’s restaurants.

On Tues., Feb. 3, from 10:30 a.m. until midnight, the Greater Atlanta McDonald’s Operators Association will offer one free small order of McDonald’s French fries to guests at local, participating restaurants. No purchase is necessary.

The offer is good for guests dining-in or using the drive-thru.

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Somebody’s running a You Tube campaign against the McDonald’s at 30 Marietta St. in downtown Atlanta. The angry diner has uploaded two videos documenting the claims. (Warning: the second is mind-numbingly long.)

OK, so there’s porn and panhandling there. But what about the food? Why are you eating there?

By the way, McDonald’s announced this week that it’s completely giving up trans fats. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The world’s largest restaurant chain is now cooking French fries, hash browns, Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and chicken in a blend of canola, corn and soybean oils, Chief Executive Jim Skinner said at the company’s annual meeting here Thursday. Those items are now considered to have zero grams of trans fat per serving; some items may still contain a trace amount of the substance, though it is negligible. McDonald’s plans to finish converting pies and cookies so they also qualify as free of trans fat by year end.

Read more here.

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I bet you didn’t know the Big Mac has become a tool of the homosexual agenda. Now you do. Read the whole story here and, please, forward the link to anyone you know who may be unknowingly passing through a shower of fairy dust as they waddle through the golden arches.

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Two amusing things I found via Livejournal:

First, Livejournal blogger ‘Robyn_Ma’ writes hilariously about hot-headed chef Gordon Ramsay’s show “Kitchen Nightmares” on BBC America: “This is the show where he goes in and troubleshoots dying restaurants in his incomparable manner, and then the restaurants turn around and become successful. When he comes in, rats are shitting in the crème brûlée and the head waiter is shooting heroin into his dick in full view of the diners and the owner is keeping financial records on toilet paper with crayons. Gordon comes in and says ‘Everything is fuckin’ bollocks, you know that, yeah?’ and at the end of the show everything is awesome and waitresses dressed as faeries are serving glazed duck to important British film producers and Gordon looks at the camera and says ‘I am fuckin’ God, mate’ and, y’know, the end.” The blog entry also links to a YouTube clip from the show.

Also, Livejournal blogger ‘cleverusername2’ drew my attention to something I missed: the McDonald’s “I’d Hit It” banner-ad controversy from 2005, which featured a guy saying “Double cheeseburger? I’d hit it” (“Evidently unclear on the concept,” says ‘cleverusername2’). Here’s the link to the pertinent Wikipedia article.

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