PRIZE DRAWING: Because The King Is Dead

Last year, to promote their new breakfast menu, Burger King released a television commercial that featured a pillowcase with their new breakfast menu on one side and The King’s face on the other. You can read more about the pillowcase here and here. That pillowcase was available for a short time and yours truly pulled out the plastic and purchased two of them.

When I received them several weeks later, I opened one and put it on my pillow. After five minutes of resting my head on it, I realized how stupid of an impulsive buy it was. First off, the pillowcase is white, so all the drooling I do while sleeping will easily stain it. Secondly, I can’t practice my kissing with this pillow because it’s as if I’m making out with The King. I could flip it over and practice kissing the other side with the breakfast menu, but to me it would feel like I’m kissing the back of The King’s neck. Thirdly, the pillowcases aren’t made using 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton.

Anyhoo, after putting them in the back of my dresser, I forgot about them. But I remembered I had them after learning about Burger King’s makeover and The King’s demise. Since one of the pillowcases is still in its original sealed packaging and I’m never going to open it, I thought I should give it away to a lucky Impulsive Buy reader.

To enter The Impulsive Buy’s Burger King Pillowcase Prize Drawing, leave a comment with THIS post. I don’t really care what you say in your comment, but please leave The King either a heartfelt goodbye or a heartless good riddance.

Please don’t forget to fill out the email field because I’ll be emailing the winner for his or her mailing address. The Impulsive Buy will stop accepting entries on Friday, June 10, 2011 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. Only one entry allowed per person, and it’s open to everyone who’s 18 years old or older.

Good luck!

Fine Print: The Impulsive Buy promises your email address will not be used to send you emails telling you to watch a YouTube video that you probably already saw months ago. The Impulsive Buy also promises your mailing address will not be used to send you Sears Roebuck catalogs from the 1980s. Bribes will not be accepted. The Impulsive Buy will not be responsible for lost mail, damaged mail, or nightmares with the The King.

FLAVORS OF THE MONTH: June 2011

Dairy Queen

Here are this month’s limited time offers.

Dairy Queen’s June 2011 Blizzard of the Month is Brownie Batter, but it’s not the first time the flavor has been the Blizzard of the Month (June 2009 and September 2010). The blended concoction consists of double-fudge brownie batter with real fudge brownie pieces and cream vanilla soft serve. On Second Scoop reviewed it in 2009. A small serving has 600 calories, 230 calories from fat, 26 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 330 milligrams of sodium, 82 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 62 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.

Slurpee’s flavor of the month is Berry Blaster which is a blend of cherry and raspberry. An 8 ounce serving has 65 calories, 0 grams of fat, 5 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 17 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein. If you do decide to try Berry Blaster Slurpee, you might also want to consider using the new Slurpee Mixmaker Cup which has two chambers and a straw that allows you to suck from either chamber or both.

Subway’s June $5 Featured Footlong is Chipotle Chicken & Cheese which is made up of pieces of chicken, cheese, red onions, and bell peppers with a smoky Chipotle Southwest Sauce. The sandwich was originally introduced late last year and Spew Review and Brand Eating reviewed it.

Cold Stone Creamery’s Gold Cone Flavor of the Month is Chocolate Hazelnut which was the winner of their 2010 Gold Cone Contest. The flavor combines of chocolate ice cream with rich chocolate and sweet hazelnuts. A small size 340 calories, 180 calories from fat, 21 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 85 milligrams of cholesterol, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 31 grams of sugar, 3 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of protein,

Baskin Robbins’ Flavor of the Month is Toffee Pecan Crunch which is made up of chocolate ice cream with a smooth caramel ribbon and packed with pecans and Heath Bar Pieces. A 2.5 ounce scoop has 200 calories, 90 calories from fat, 10 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 125 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 20 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

NEWS: Burger King Says Goodbye To The King And Hello To Testing New Menu Items

Burger King

Did Burger King’s The King freak you out and appear in your dreams robeless to give me…I mean, you a massage, using his beard to spread massage oil on your back, chest, and your inner thighs?

Well, you no longer have to worry about The King sneaking up on, waking up next to or massaging you anymore, because The King has been overthrown by Burger King’s new owners and advertising agency. Along with the King-less advertising, Burger King is also testing a slew of new menu items in markets across the country.

The test items include an Asian chicken salad with baby edamame, red cabbage, and a sesame lime vinaigrette; mango and mixed berry smoothies; low-fat yogurt berry parfait with granola; oatmeal with dried fruit and maple sugar, vanilla soft-serve ice cream sundaes; a chicken and apple salad with blue cheese; a chicken BLT wrap with bacon and Dijion mustard; and a new premium burger with thick-cut bacon, romaine lettuce, and a spicy pepper grill sauce in between a brioche bun.

If you’re a connoisseur of fast food, you probably noticed that many of those items are currently available on McDonald’s menu. So copycat, copycat, hope you choke on a rat, Burger King. Although Burger King did come out with Angus beef burgers before McDonald’s. So copycat, copycat, hope you choke on a rat, McDonald’s.

Anyhoo, it’s important to note again that all of those items are just being tested and some of them may not make it as a regular item on every Burger King menu board.

Source: Miami Herald and Burger Business

NEWS: New Häagen-Dazs Flavors Might Make It Hard For Me To Get Into Speedo Shape This Summer

I thought we reviewed all the new Häagen-Dazs flavors released this year (Sweet Chai Latte, Caramel Apple Pie, and Blueberry Crumble), but yesterday I learned we didn’t when a Häagen-Dazs press release showed up in my RSS feeds. So I now have to get out my whip made from Red Vines and force TIB’s writers to review more Häagen-Dazs ice cream and desserts. Here are the flavors we haven’t reviewed yet.

Häagen-Dazs Cranberry Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream: Rich, creamy pumpkin ice cream is balanced with swirls of tart cranberry filling, then lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg – a holiday classic. Flavor Top Notes: Warm pumpkin pie, a zing of nutmeg. Flavor Finish Notes: Tangy cranberry with a hint of spice.

Häagen-Dazs Spiced Peach Crumble Ice Cream (Walmart exclusive): Peak-flavor peaches are cooked to perfection, lightly spiced and stirred into sweet cream with nuggets of buttery crust. Flavor Top Notes: Fruity peaches, warm nutmeg and cinnamon. Flavor Finish Notes: Lingering butter and sweet summer peach.

Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Almond Frozen Yogurt: Crunchy roasted almonds are sliced and blended with rich, indulgent chocolate frozen yogurt.

Häagen-Dazs Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet: Tender, ripe blackberries and the distinctive flavor of cabernet grapes combine to create this dark, intense sorbet.

REVIEW: McDonald’s Rolo McFlurry

Rolo McFlurry

The McDonald’s McFlurry is a rare treat for me. As a matter of fact, it’s such a rare treat that the last time I had one was when they were introduced almost 15 years ago.

You can blame the McDonald’s Dollar Menu and its Hot Fudge Sundae for my lack of McFlurry purchases over the years. I couldn’t see myself spending the money for a McFlurry because it costs almost as much as three Hot Fudge Sundaes. If I buy one McFlurry, all I can do is eat it. But with three Hot Fudge Sundaes I can eat one, give one to a lucky lady or chubby child, and then pour the third one on my body and then rub it all over like I was using it to block UVA and UVB radiation.

Unfortunately, during my last trip to McDonald’s, I had to forgo my usually pouring of a McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae all over my body to cool down and spend my money on McDonald’s limited time only Rolo McFlurry.

A Rolo combines milk chocolate and caramel, which is my third favorite combination involving chocolate. My favorite combination unites chocolate and peanut butter and my second favorite involves melted chocolate poured over a woman’s skin.

When I received my Rolo McFlurry, I was disappointed with it because the amount of caramel it had was significantly less than what I saw in the images over at Foodbeast. Rolo is lame-o without caramel, and so is the Rolo McFlurry. So I ended up having to purchase another Rolo McFlurry from another McDonald’s to get one with a decent amount of caramel.

Geez, if I didn’t have to buy two Rolo McFlurries, I could’ve had six Hot Fudge Sundaes, four of which I could’ve poured all over my head while playing the home version of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare.

Rolo McFlurry Closeup

The combination of soft serve ice cream, milk chocolate pieces, and gooey caramel is a toothachingly good one. Those three ingredients also give the dessert a wide variety of textures. However, when the caramel runs out after eating half of the McFlurry, and I guarantee it will unless you’re really good at portioning, the Rolo McFlurry gets really boring and it makes me yearn for a much better tasting soft serve ice cream and chocolate combination — the McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae.

To be honest, adding Rolo candy to a McFlurry seems like an odd choice. Rolo is probably a second or third tier candy in terms of popularity. Heck, more than a third of you probably didn’t know what a Rolo was before reading this review. There are several other candies that would’ve been better than a Rolo. It would’ve been nice if McDonald’s brought back the Reese’s McFlurry or, if caramel is important, a Twix McFlurry.

But again, the Rolo McFlurry is a toothsome dessert. That is, until the caramel runs out.

(Nutrition Facts – Snack size – 510 calories, 16 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 83 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 63 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of protein.)

Item: McDonald’s Rolo McFlurry
Price: $2.69
Size: Regular size
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Excellent combination of soft serve ice cream, chocolate pieces, and caramel. Lots of chocolate pieces. Cooling down by pouring a hot fudge sundae all over my body. Playing the home version of Double Dare. McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae.
Cons: Needs more caramel. Using Rolo seems like an odd choice. Wasting McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundaes when there are people in third world countries starving. When the caramel runs out, the soft serve ice cream and chocolate pieces aren’t enough to keep it interesting.