The Waffle

I came down to Hochelaga today to help Jean-Claude Rocheleau’s team to plan and execute the final stretch of the by-election campaign.

After a briefing on where things were at - and things are looking pretty good - I had a lunch meeting with the campaign director.  Location? Two steps from the HQ:

The New Caza de la Pizza.

And what is the specialty of the New Caza de la Pizza?  Why, Pizza!

The place was not very busy, and since it is fairly big, we had no trouble to pick a quiet corner. A tv was showing the highlights from yesterday’s hockey games. Before we started discussing further the strategy and the communication plan for the reminder of the campaign, we peered at the menu.  The campaign manager picked the classic pizza-ceasar combo. Me, I had no choice but to go with the Spéciale “New Casa” :  Tomato sauce, mushrooms, bacon, green peppers, pepperoni, onions, green olives and cheese.

I ordered a small. (11.75$ before tax and tip). It took about 15 minutes for the pie to came. Unfortunetaly, I was very distracted, as my phone kept ringing and my blackberry kept buzzing.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the pizza, it was loaded well, the bacon was crispy and the green olives weren’t salty. With a tad bit of tabasco, I had no problems to finish it.

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Since I pointed out the US’ McFarthest point earlier, I think it is only appropriate to raise this.

McDonald’s has franchises in 119 countries in the world… but not for long.  In fact, McDonald’s is already writing off one country before it officially shuts down.

Because after Midnight this coming Saturday, Icelanders will no longer able to enjoy a Big Mac under Reykjavik’s Midnight Sun.

Iceland’s economy is in deep, deep trouble.  The low value of the Krona, tariffs on agricultural product imports and high commodity prices has brought the demise of the burger giant in Iceland.

A Big Mac is now sold for 650 Kronur in Iceland. (5,55 C$ at today’s exchange rate). Although it is the not the most expensive Big Mac in the world, the current owners of the franchise didn’t see any future in the chain.

And McDonald’s does not see any future in Iceland either, apparently:  “The unique operational complexity of doing business in Iceland combined with the very challenging economic climate in the country makes it financially prohibitive to continue the business.”

McDonald’s move comes 10 months after their main competitor, Burger King, shut down its operations in Iceland.

So what to do?  A Hamburger Today is recommending Hamborgara Búllan which boasts the Offer of the Century with a Burger, Fries and a Soda for 1190 Kronur!

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Civilization is an interesting concept.  Being far from it is even more interesting.  Stephen Von Worley, an american blogger and photographer, decided to find out how far from it you could be.  How deep in America can you be. You know, where the buffalo roamed.

Or, more to the point, what is the McFarthest Spot in America. As you can see below, McDonald’s got the territory covered very well, with 13,381 outlets.

Von Worley studied, mapped out (Download a bigger, wallpaper-ready version of the map), and found that between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley, you would be 107 miles away by helicopter or 145 miles by car from an outlet that could put an end to your Big Mac craving.

It is quite unlikely that I’ll ever move there.

But perhaps Phillip and Tina Sherman should.

As for Canada, it would be easier, as the chain has only slightly more than 1400 outlets in our country. And, if you have a Big Mac craving, you may want to avoid the Cambridge 401 location, apparently the busiest McDonald’s in Canada.

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So following the Waffle’s last exposé, Frito-Lay wrote back to answer my query about the lack of Guacamole-flavoured corn chips in my bag of Doritos Collisions.  For the record, I did attach the photographic evidence.

Although “Linda” offered no satisfactory explanation about the unbalance of the bag, she clearly had the mandate from Frito-Lay to make sure they retain my customership.

And The Waffle, being a sucker for free food, will remain a customer.  For the time being.

Note:  You will notice the emphasis put in the auto-sig on quality ingredients.  Which is, of course, irrelevant if the product advertised is not actually delivered.

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Hi,

Thank you for writing. I’m sorry you had a negative experience with Doritos Collisions and apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this caused. I’m sending a coupon to you which should arrive in about a week.

Quality is a top priority at Frito-Lay. Thanks to the information you provided, we are better able to investigate and take any actions necessary to prevent a recurrence. Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

Should you have further questions or comments, please click on this link to send a reply.

Best regards,

Linda
Frito-Lay Consumer Affairs

Many of our products are made with simple ingredients: sliced potatoes or corn, healthier oils - such as sunflower or corn oil, and salt and then simply prepared.

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UPDATE - Oct. 26 @ 23:52

I finally got my coupon from Frito-Lay Canada.  ”Linda” offers no better explanation, in fact, she offers none at all. But she did enclose a coupon for a 1.50$ off any Frito-Lay product.

On the coupon, I learned that Frito Lay Canada is offering us over 100 different products.

Everybody knows that they own Lay’s (16 flavours) Lay’s Stax (7 flavours) ,  Doritos (16 flavours), Ruffles (11 flavours) and Tostitos (13 types + 3 salsa types and Con Queso Dip).  Nobody is surprised to find out they they sell Fritos (4 flavours), Sun Chips (3 flavours), Cheetos (8 products) and Munchies (3 flavours).  Lesser known is the fact that they also own Rold Gold (4 types), Miss Vickie’s (16 flavours), SmartFood (the awful popcorn thingy) and Cracker Jack (classic).  Also, Rustler’s, whatever that is, Hickory Sticks, Santitas, Baken-Ets, Handles, Grandma’s Cookies, Munchos, and also Hostess and its 5 remaining flavours.

Now, I need to choose.

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I just came back from the Subway on Sparks Street where I grabbed lunch.

As usual when I go to Subway, I picked one of their classics for $5.00.
This time, I went for a Cold Cut Combo, and I made it a Meal Deal for an extra $2.60.
I usually go for a bag of chips, as opposed to the cookie, and I grab a bottle of pop.

But as I was in the process of doing so, I was informed that it was now $0.20 extra to grab a bottle instead of the glass.

A 13% cash grab!  Shame!

How could they?  Aren’t they aware there is an economic crisis?

They have 31845 restaurants in 91 Countries, 2459 of them in Canada!  They are doing well. I refused to pay the extra money and went with a fountain Coca-Cola.

But my problems did not stop there.

My sandwich was pretty good, as usual.  As I said, it was a Cold Cut Combo on the Monterey Cheddar Footlong, with shredded blended cheese, extra pickles and all the veggies except the red onions and the cucumbers.  In addition, I had some mustard and hot sauce.

To complete my Trio, I picked a bag of chips, and this time my eye caught the flashy packaging of Doritos‘ Collisions, the Habaneros/Guacamole combo.

Now the sandwich looks pretty good. And it was, no complaints there.

But let’s have a closer look at the content of the bag of chips.

Are they kidding me?  That is not two flavours.  It is a flavour and a third as far as I am concerned.  Now, I did not weigh everything, but clearly I got had.  This bag was not balanced.  Either this was a defective bag, or the Habaneros flavour is quite disliked and they are trying to force it down consumers’ throats.

Either way, this is not the end of it.  I’ve contacted the headquarters, asking for an explanation.  The Waffle will not let this die.