Some of these over-hyped fast food items of 2019 were genuinely delicious, but also, you
know, sparked nothing short of riots.
Others were just obviously a marketing ploy, hoping to cash in on the novelty factor.
Which of these overly-hyped fast food items from 2019 did you fall for?
When it was first announced, there was a lot of hype and excitement from the plant eating
community about Burger King's Impossible Whopper.
But the big question was... would it be any good?
They had the interest of the masses already, and as one of the first fast food chains to
offer a meat-free option, Burger King definitely had the market.
Impossible Burgers are known for being very meat-like in texture and taste.
But Impossible Burgers are also major salt bombs, containing even more sodium content
than the original Whopper at a stunning 1080 milligrams.
It also has more carbs and sugar than the original Whopper.
Being plant-based doesn't necessarily mean something is good for you, but it was disappointing
news to some.
"That's an impossible whopper?
I'm a damn fool."
One of the biggest let-downs of the Impossible Whopper, though, was Burger King's initial
failure to disclose that the plant-based burgers were still being cooked on the same griddle
as real meat.
After all, they were marketing the burger as 100 percent plants, zero percent beef,
and there would definitely be some cross contamination when they share a grill.
This means the Impossible Whopper technically isn't vegetarian, let alone vegan, so all
that hype was for nothing.
Sorry, plant eaters.
This one may not be for you, after all.
"It doesn't matter anymore.
I've moved on."
Trying to re-create a dish in a different form is an interesting task, and can be successful
if done right and in an innovative manner.
Jack in the Box began to stir up excitement and curiosity when it was reported they were
testing burger dippers in Sacramento, California in February 2019.
That is, a burger, but in a sort of french fry-ish form that you could dip into ketchup
or a sauce of your choice.
It's an interesting idea, it just ended up not being executed as well as it could have
been.
First off, Jack in the Box was a bit late to this turning regular food into french fries
game.
Dunkin' Donuts has already launched their donut fries, and McDonald's came out with
Donut Sticks soon after.
Not to mention the fact that Burger King has been selling chicken fries for years.
"French fries and I are pregnant.
And we're having chicken fries!"
The test store and its customers must have been pretty meh about them because the dippers
went no further than Sacramento.
So much for all of that excitement, right?
When it was reported that Little Caesars was testing out a Frito Pie Pizza in Tennessee
in June 2019, the hype was huge.
Obviously this was a play on a much loved junk food staple, Frito pie - and if there's
one thing America loves, it's junk food.
You can make it in different ways, but essentially, Frito pie is a bag of Fritos with chili on
top.
"It feels like you're holding orange crap in a bag."
Sometimes you get a little fancy and add cheese or green onion.
It's delicious and simple, and is a favorite among many tailgaters and college students.
Turning a beloved food invention into a pizza isn't a terrible idea, but maybe this just
wasn't the right one to try.
It did cause a stir, if only for everyone going, "Say what?"
But the hype just didn't live up to the actual pizza, and customers called Little Caesars
out on their gimmick.
Also, the Fritos didn't even come on the pizza.
They were still in the bag and the customer had to put them on top.
No, this isn't a particularly difficult task, but it does kind of beg the question of what
the whole point is.
If it's a Frito Pie Pizza, shouldn't it come with Fritos already on the pizza?
Little Caesars said this was to maintain the integrity and crispiness of the Fritos, and
we get that, but it's kind of a cop-out.
Truffles are not typically something you associate with fast food.
This subterranean fungus is one of the most expensive ingredients in the world.
Black truffles, on average, cost $95 an ounce.
White truffles can cost as much as $168 an ounce.
No one is going to spend that much on a burger from Carl's Jr., are they?
With the nationwide roll-out of the truffle items in March 2019, Owen Klein, the Vice
President of the company which owns Carl's Jr, explained:
"Truffle is traditionally viewed as a rare indulgence, and we're bringing it to the everyday
dining experience by infusing the distinct truffle flavor into an entirely new offering
for our burger-loving customers"
Infused means it's probably truffle oil they're using.
And while still not cheap, it is far more cost effective than using actual truffles.
The whole schtick of the truffle burger and fries is that allure of luxury.
It's a good hype machine, that's for sure.
Fancy fast food?
Sure, why not.
"Varda truffle?"
The reviews were relatively positive, though not mind-blowing - and certainly not worth
all the hype.
People said that the truffle flavor took over the cheese, and the whole thing was a little
too greasy.
Sonic Drive-In, in terms of fast food restaurants, already has built-in hype.
They come to you on roller skates!
That's just fun, and truthfully, should be hyped up.
However, when it comes to Sonic's famous slushes, they're always trying to get more people to
drive on up and make an order.
Even if that order gives you wings.
Yup, that's right, Sonic paired up with Red Bull to give the masses not only a sugar rush,
but an energy boost as well in the spring and summer of 2019.
"I had a couple Red Bulls.
You ever had a Red Bull?
I'd never had a Red Bull before but I had a Red Bull last night and I really like Red
Bull."
Sometimes overly hyped means that an item was really good and needed to be around longer.
The Sonic Red Bull slush and its Red Bull Cherry Limeade version were only available
from the end of April to June.
That's it!
People loved this slush.
It was refreshing, energizing, and actually a really good collaboration.
Yet Sonic pulled it instead of extending it.
This was just a case of not really listening to the customer base, and hyping something
up so much that everyone wanted it, only to take it away.
Let people give you money, Sonic!
"They won't take my money."
There's nothing wrong with brands trying to be creative and push the envelope.
But one of Burger King's menu additions in 2019 just couldn't live up to the hype.
What are we talking about?
"Tacos, Ashley.
Tacos."
The main problem was, Burger King's tacos barely deserve to be called tacos.
They're sludgy, gooey, ground meat messes in a soggy tortilla shell that just make you
sad.
No one should be sad eating a taco.
These were downright depressing.
Burger King had a taco variant on its menu in 2010, so maybe they were just hoping people
had forgotten that when they launched their campaign for their $1 crispy tacos in July
2019.
Alas, that's not the case.
They hyped up the taco a lot, saying their West Coast customers loved them and so they
should go national.
They used imagery that made it look almost passable, but in the end it was universally
panned by critics - and cursed in bathrooms everywhere.
Taco Bell was also a victim of the hype machine that was the 2019 fast food industry.
If you're not familiar with it, the Carolina Reaper is the spiciest pepper in the world.
Think of the spiciest pepper you've ever eaten, and then triple it... at least.
Maybe quadruple.
"It's not so bad."
The fact is, it's spicy - about 200 times hotter
than a jalapeno, just for comparison.
So of course, were it to be added to a dish, it was going to get noticed.
Enter Taco Bell's Steak Reaper Ranch Fries.
The hype over these was that Taco Bell wanted to attract spice heads and those who wondered
just how hot these fries were going to be.
Just how much pain did you want to be in while eating french fries, essentially?
"It burns.
It burns us."
The reaper pepper was added to the ranch sauce that goes on top of a mix of french fries
and steak.
The sauce was far hotter than their Fire sauce, though maybe not quite at Diablo sauce level
because of the ranch.
Basically, it wasn't going to send anyone into a coughing fit.
So much for the Carolina Reaper.
The general consensus was that the burrito was better and more substantial.
Also, they simply can't compare to Taco Bell's Nacho Fries.
Those were the real winner of 2019.
Another month, another Starbucks limited edition frappuccino trying to make it big.
Starbucks keeps playing the game, and they tried once again in 2019 to come out with
an insanely colorful and weird tasting drink in hopes of making it onto everyone's Instagram
pages.
The Tie-Dye Frappuccino from Starbucks was supposed to be their "it" drink of the summer.
They outright admit they were just trying to make something that looked like summer,
that was pretty and colorful.
Did anyone notice that they built up all that hype and didn't really talk at all about the
actual taste of the drink?
Who cares about how a drink tastes when it looks so great with the one filter, right?
We will admit the the use of powders - turmeric, beet, and spirulina -- to give each frappuccino
a unique tie dye look is really kind of genius, but when the drink is basically just a regular
creme frappuccino with mysterious "tropical fruit flavor," we have to raise our eyebrows
a bit.
Not to mention the Tie-Dye Frappuccino, much like all of their other over-hyped limited
time drinks, was only available for a few days.
The pictures were indeed pretty, but most of them didn't even look like the ones the
official marketing pictures, and that was really the whole point, right?
Overly hyped for sure.
This monstrosity is one of those menu items that was made purely to either disgust people
or to get them to try it out of morbid curiosity.
Look, KFC chicken is not bad, and Cheetos are not bad.
Together, it's a neon orange horror show.
Look, nothing should be that vibrant color of orange.
Especially not something you're going to put into your body.
"There's nothing wrong with a little fast food once or twice a meal."
All that said, this was an insanely clever idea on KFC and Cheetos' part.
Of course people were going to run out to try this.
How could they not?
The hype was real.
The KFC Cheetos Sandwich was introduced as part of a pop-up in Manhattan that offered
other KFC and Cheetos creations like hot wings done Cheetos style, Cheetos topped fries,
and Cheetos macaroni and cheese.
Though it's really the sandwich that captured people's attention.
The sandwich itself tasted the way slowly drowning in a pile of Cheetos dust tastes,
but with chicken.
The overall consensus was that it just missed the mark, not living up to the hype and insane
marketing.
Now, don't get us wrong.
We love the chicken sandwich from Popeye's.
It's a crispy, juicy work of art.
"Critique is so limiting and emotionally draining."
However, the insane furor over this sandwich created more of a fuss than the thing itself.
It's release, and subsequent viral tornado was one of the most insane examples of capitalism
gone haywire we've ever seen.
What really topped it, however, was its return later in the year.
Look, the sandwich is delicious, but that's no reason to actually throw punches.
Or ruin your car.
Or murder someone.
No sandwich is worth actually dying over.
The tragedy really marked how overly hyped the Popeye's creation had become, and the
danger of consumerism getting out of hand.
At the end of the day, it's just a chicken sandwich.
A customer even had the audacity to sue Popeye's over not being able to get a chicken sandwich.
And let's not even get started on the adverse effects on the poor Popeye's employees who
had to deal with this all along the way.
Long shifts, feet going numb, brawls of their own, and dealing with constant threats from
customers... maybe the chicken sandwich shouldn't have come back at all?
Besides, a lot of customers complained that it's second coming wasn't as food at the first,
with patties being smaller, or simply just not as good.
Sometimes there's hype, and sometimes there's truly being overly hyped to the point of danger.
Popeye's chicken sandwich definitely falls into the latter category.
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