Fast Food Chains

(Newser) - Burger King has launched a new Facebook application called “Whopper Sacrifice,” rewarding users who cull 10 people from their friends list with a free burger, Adweek reports. The ad campaign came out of ad agency employees' frustration with their own bloated lists. "We thought there could be some fun there," said one ad exec who admits to 736 Facebook friends. Sacrificed pals get a note saying why they've been axed. More »

(Newser) - Burger King has unveiled a men's body spray designed to make burger lovers swoon, the BBC reports. The company says the Flame fragrance smells like "the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat." A website for the perfume features various "romantic" images—including the Burger King king himself reclined almost naked on a bearskin rug. More »

(Newser) - Oatmeal is getting a trendy makeover, the Wall Street Journal reports. Drawn to the modest meal by its cheap, healthy, and long-lasting ingredients, smoothie chain Jamba Juice added oatmeal to its Chicago menus today before rolling it out across the US in January, while Starbucks began offering the breakfast classic earlier this fall. More »

(Newser) - So far Starbucks isn't giving two beans about rival efforts to keep the coffee wars piping hot, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The latest not-so-subtle salvo—a McDonald's espresso billboard declaring "Four Bucks is Dumb" erected within sight of Starbucks' Seattle headquarters—has yet to meet a response, and execs hint they intend to take the high road. More »

(Newser) - It’s official: Jack in the Box’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburger is the least healthy value offering by a chain restaurant, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Cancer Project, which monitors links between nutrition and the disease, singled out the grilled meat and bacon in the sandwich as carcinogenic and otherwise unhealthy. Cheap eats from Burger King, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s also received poor marks. More »

(Newser) - Burger King is catching flak for taking the burger wars to places that don't even have a word for burger, Wall Street Journal reports. In a campaign critics are calling crass, the company sought out "Whopper Virgins" in far-flung locations from Greenland to Transylvania who had never eaten a burger before, and asked them to compare the taste of a Big Mac and a Whopper. More »

(Newser) - An Arkansas man has sued McDonald's because nude photos of his wife on a cell phone he lost in one of the restaurants ended up on the Internet. When the man called the outlet, employees promised to keep the phone safe until he could collect it, reports the New York Daily News . He and his wife are suing for $3 million for suffering, embarrassment, and the cost of changing homes. More »

(Newser) - McDonald's is trying to harness mom power to help shake its unhealthy image, reports the Washington Post . The burger joint has recruited six mothers to serve as "quality correspondents" and is giving them unprecedented access to the company's operations in the hope they will share their favorable findings about the chain's quality control and the healthy side of its menu. More »