Tom Petty is this year's halftime act? I hope he doesn't have a wardrobe malfunction....

So the Super Bowl is on, and like millions of other indifferent football fans out there, I'll be running back and forth from the TV room to catch the commercials. (Turns out I could just catch them later on Myspace.)

Seems this year KFC's parent company, Yum Brands, didn't want to spring for the cost of Super Bowl airtime—or thinks it has found a clever way around the expense, which, if you're wondering, is $2.7 million price for a 30-second ad. Presumably the company might have used the time to promote its Hot Wings product, pictured above.

Instead, KFC is offering to make a $260,000 charity donation in the name of any player who scores during the game and does the chicken dance in the end zone.

Mmmm hmmm. Right. There have been some pretty silly dances so far, but I don't think any of them qualifies as the Chicken Dance quite yet. (Instructional video included!)

KFC spokesman Rick Maynard was quoted in MarketingDaily earlier this week: "There are lots of ways to advertise. We think this is unique, and will get people talking about something that might take place during the game itself."

Talk about expensive: If you wanted to have your Super Bowl experience in person, ticket prices reached a record level this year—$4,190—although the average price was expected to go down closer to game day.

Posted by QSMama at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

So. It's been a while. Now I feel like I've just run into an old friend on the street.

"What's new?," she asks. And though a million things have happened in the meantime, but not knowing where to start, I say, "Nothing, really. Same old. How are you?"

I've had so many ideas for posts. Really, I have. Just haven't had the time to flesh them out and actually, uh, post them. Haven't had the energy, either, but I'll leave the juicy details on that for the next post.

Then this morning I opened my inbox to find a message from one of the Noodads, alerting me to his post about a recent family trip to Subway and his disappointment in the kids' meal toy. The picture above is his; read the whole post here. It's worth the trip over.

The amazing thing is hundreds of people have continued to visit Quick Serve Kids every week. Granted, they're staying less than a minute on average, but that's to be expected. For pete's sake, my last post was a big whine, and that was weeks ago.

This week will be different--and I have a lot to share. Stay tuned. And keep on checking back.

Posted by QSMama at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

As a special treat, we stopped into a Great Amercian Cookie Company and got Baby A and, ahem, ourselves cookies. There was a giant floor poster depicting the company's partnership with Disney Princess characters, which are appearing on mini-buckets and kids' cups. The poster looked a lot like this, only even more enticing, if you can IMAGINE that:

[image thanks to the Great American Cookies site]

Do you know what that does to a kid who spends her days dressing like this? And rearranging furniture to build "carriages" to take herself to "the grand ball" where she can "find her prince and fall in love and get married"? * mom shakes fist angrily at Disney *

Oh YES YOU DO KNOW, if you've ever raised a two- or three-year-old.

So even though she got a cookie embedded with yummy colored chocolate drops (which we'd already handed her before she spotted the poster), do you know what kind of shape she was in when we left the store? This kind of shape:

In all fairness, that picture was taken a few weeks ago, but you get the idea.

Good thing there was a display of ginormous pumpkins nearby to distract her from her decidedly un-princess-like breakdown.

Posted by QSMama at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Ooooh, the butterflies. I think my heart actually skipped a beat. Two of our friends—a couple, actually—both got iPhones last night, and I got to play with one this morning.

In the wake of all the hype, I half-expected something to go wrong. It sounded too good to be true. Surely the buble would burst. But? The iPhone did everything the commercials promised. It really is amazing—sleek, light, so very fast, and capable.

A Boston Herald reviewer says:

For it's not just cool; this phone is important, in the same way that Apple's first Macintosh computer was important. The Mac showed us a better way to interact with computers, and forced the entire industry to follow its lead. Here we go again. (Read full review.)

I had the same feeling, and after playing with one, for ever so short a time, I can say: It's true. It's all true. And all over again, I'm all giddy for the beauty and vision that Apple manages to attach to everyday tech tools.

This from a kid who was raised on MS-DOS and PCs. My dad had the foresight to insist that I learn to

Continue reading "I Think I'm in Love...with the iPhone" »

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Remember a when I posted a month ago about Shrek helping to sell healthier Happy Meals for McDonald's?

Well, let's just say the company is lovin' it. Comparable sales for May were up 8.7 percent (7.4 percent in U.S. locations).

McDonald's thanked the "Shrek the Third" promotion, along with strong breakfast sales and successful new products, for the strong results. I hope that means awareness of the healthier Happy Menu options—like Apple Dippers, milk, and side salads—is growing, too, but McDonald's didn't break down the exact sales figures.

I just got an report from a Goldman Sachs analyst who follows McDonald's, titled "Ogre-whelmingly strong May SSS." Hee hee. Who says Wall Street analysts can't have senses of humor?

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Shrek is getting ready to shill for Happy Meals—but for the kind with apple slices and salads, not fries.

Read that whole link. This is an interesting development, the first of its kind, far as I know, where a major motion-picture tie-in promotes a healthier option. My favorite part? "While the apples, milk, salads and other featured products have been on McDonald's menu for more than a year, chief marketing officer Mary Dillon said the company still had 'opportunities to drive awareness both with parents and kids about these offerings.' "

Pssssst, Mary! Advertise here! We're driving awareness!

At any rate, there's no doubt about the selling power of Shrek. Just the other day, Baby A declared she wanted to take a mud bath and brush her teeth with worms—in homage (ograge?) to Shrek, of course. I am sure she'd eat what Shrek says he likes, in a heartbeat. What's your take? Is Shrek's repping happier Happy Meals acceptable? Or not?

Please comment and, er, weigh in.

[Shrek is a copyright of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. This might be a Reuters image, too, but it looks like thousands of others floating out there with no attribution.]

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Don't know about you, but I was ready for this weekend somewhere around, oh, Tuesday afternoon. So let's have some Friday Fun.

• I know I shouldn't be laughing.

• To promote its new 7 Layer Crunchwrap, Taco Bell will let one fan propose marriage during a TV baseball game using one of those virtual behind-the-plate signs (pictured here). In love with a baseball fan—and ready to tie the knot? Visit the Taco Bell site and click on the "7 Layers of Love" icon from April 26 through May 27. Once there, submit "7 reasons why your significant other would be lucky to marry you" as the winner will be chosen on the basis of creativity, appropriateness to theme, and the ability to display true love. (Sic. Whatever that is. Ack.)

• Caffeine Corollary #1: The cheaper it is, the more you can drink. (Granted, this is coming from an admitted latte freak, so maybe I need a new system of corollaries.) Anyway, Coffee Beanery says it will continue to offer 30 cent coffee on the 30th of every month. There are locations in most every state, so look for one near you if you're needing a cheap buzz this Monday.

• Don't care for the concept (it's casual dining, anyway, not quick-serve), but love the thoughtful gesture.

Enjoy your weekend. I'm about to get mine started correctly and directly.

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Thanks to The Wonderful Husband's recent retail therapy, we have a fancy new digital cable system that lets us record programs automatically. So, like any decent parents would, we immediately filled the hard drive with children's programs—the gentle new "Curious George" on PBS, plenty of Sesame Street, and the one Disney show I like (really like): "Little Einsteins."

Trouble is, "Little Einsteins" comes on the Disney Channel, and there are commercials—or, as I'm sure Disney would prefer me to call them, "corporate mentions." This morning, I let her watch a new "Little Einsteins," and the introductory montage included a spot with the Chuck E Cheese mascot playing basketball with kids and encouraging exercise...because "it's not only fun, it's healthy, too!," or something to that effect.

That message, of course, is lost on a two-year-old. Her thinking went more like, "Chuck E Cheese! I went to a birthday party there a few months ago. There was pizza and candy and cake and games! I want to go again!" Which then became all she talked about for the next five minutes, until Leo and the rest of the Little Einsteins crew headed to Rocket and her mind moved on.

This annoyance isn't limited to Disney. Even PBS, sadly, has corporate mentions—again, Chuck E Cheese, for our local PBS channel. I hate that.

So what's to do?

Last month Elaine Kolish, pictured here, became director of the Council of Better Business Bureau's Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. She will monitor and enforce the pledges made last November by 11 major food advertisers to devote half their advertising aimed at kids to the promotion of healthy diet and fitness choices.

Those advertisers include quick-serve companies and suppliers like McDonald's, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Cadbury Schweppes, Campbell Soup, General Mills, Hershey, Kellogg, Kraft, Masterfoods, and Unilever.
All have pledged to reduce their use of licensed characters, product placement, and advertising in schools, and to follow the existing guidelines of the BBB's Children's Advertising Review Unit.

As this interview makes clear, though, the pledges are just that right now. Kolish will spend this spring and summer encouraging those advertisers to put some teeth in those promises. Here's an exceprt:

"[...] We're planning on announcing pledges between May and August this year. I'm not saying everything's going to be implemented between May and August—the pledges are supposed to explain how the company is going to meet the principles they signed onto last fall, to devote at least 50% of their advertising aimed directly at children 12-and-under to healthier diet choices and healthier lifestyles.

That all sounds good—really good, and best of luck to you, Elaine—but I keep thinking back to that Chuck E Cheese spot from this morning: just the mention of the name is annoying enough.

What's your take? Do you mind when your kids are exposed to advertising? Do you intentionally shield them from it? Or do you take it all in stride? Comment and let me know.

Posted by QSMama at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today the National Restaurant Association launches the new Healthy Dining web site, which is aimed at helping Americans make healthier restaurant choices. If you watch daytime TV or read a newspaper, you're sure to hear about it because there's a big PR campaign kicking off.

All in all, this is good news. In fact, it's sorta what Quick Serve Kids is doing, in a very niche way. But I want to state something that the body behind Healthy Dining isn't making too clear: Healthy Dining is a paid directory. Restaurants pay a fee to be listed and receive a list of benefits in return, including online links and printable coupons, window decals, and a certificate to hang on the wall. It's sort of like having the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for your restaurant's healthy efforts. (What? You didn't know the GH seal is a paid thing?)

So while the idea is good, be aware that this is a self-selected group.

Now that we've got that out in the open, let's look at what the Healthy Dining finder does.

Americans eat out on average four or five times a week. Through this site, the National Restaurant Association says it's trying to help make those meals healthier. Partially funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the site includes nearly 30,000 popular restaurant locations nationwide, and can be a resource for people looking to make more informed food choices when dining at their favorite restaurants.

It's also a place to demonstrate the proactive efforts of the restaurant industry, says the National Restaurant Association. Some current participating restaurants include P.F. Chang's, Buca di Beppo, Au Bon Pain, and Burger King.

Want more info? You can also sign up for free enewsletters from Healthy Dining here.

Does this new site sound helpful for your family? Comment and let me know.

Posted by QSMama at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do you like Rachael Ray? It seems like she's everywhere these days. This morning there's news she's got yet another gig—this time having to do with donuts, coffees, and other snacky things.

Dunkin' Donuts today announced it will be working with Ray, a best-selling author and host of TV's highest-rated new syndicated daytime show, "Rachael Ray." As the company's new brand representative, Ray will appear in a multi-platform marketing campaign for Dunkin' Donuts.

She'll also lend her perspective to the Dunkin' Donuts culinary team in the development of new, "better for you" food and beverage options. In recent years, the company says it has introduced several new products that provide customers with additional on-the- go options, including Smoothies (like the mango passionfruit smoothie pictured here, Latte Lite, and the reduced-carb bagel. The company has also been working since 2004 to remove trans-fats from all of its menu offerings.

Does anyone know whether Rachel Ray is a mom? I wonder if parenting is part of the perspective she'll be lending. I guess Dunkin' Donuts is going more for her "in-30-minutes" thing, and that makes sense, given that commuters and lunch buyers make up so much of the chain's market.

If you know more about Rachel Ray, or if you're just a fan, comment and share what you know.

Posted by QSMama at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

All right. I'm in a rut, talking about chains that are alllllmost but not quite quick-serves. But it's Mardi Gras, and this one's about pancakes and a good cause.

Today, take your Quicksie to your local IHOP to celebrate National Pancake Day*—also known as Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday. From 7 A.M. until 10 P.M., IHOP will give you one free short stack (three) of buttermilk pancakes. In exchange, the company asks that you consider making a donation to support local children’s hospitals through Children’s Miracle Network, or other local charities.

Last year's National Pancake Day promotion helped IHOP raise more than $340,000 for charity. In
2007, the company is aiming to raise $500,000 for Children’s Miracle Network and other local charities. Pictured at left are IHOP chief executive Julia Stewart with Madison Charles, Children’s Miracle Network’s 2006 Champion Across America Child.

Not sure where your local IHOP location is? Use this tool to find it.

* For centuries, the English made pancakes in celebration of Shrove Tuesday, which marks the beginning of fasting during Lent. Early Lenten rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so people made pancakes to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other fats...hence the name Pancake Tuesday.

All I can add is that I feel sorry for those milking cows. Maybe this was the earliest instance of the pump-and-dump phenomenon?

[photo thanks to IHOP]

Posted by QSMama at 06:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Interested in helping make sure a measure of clean water, good soil, and quality foods are around when your Quicksie has kids of his or her own?

Consider buying a calendar for five bucks at Chipotle. Proceeds from calendar sales will be divided among two organizations that reflect Chipotle’s mission of Food With Integrity: The Land Institute and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. If all available calendars are sold, Chipotle will raise about $100,000 for these organizations.

I talk way too much about Chipotle, don't I? Oh, well.

Posted by QSMama at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sure, it was like 25 degrees this morning in our Southern state, and tonight the forecast calls for 13 degrees.

It's never too cold for ice cream...especially when it's buy one, get one free!

Print the coupon and redeem by February 28. Enjoy!

Posted by QSMama at 06:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As a parent, where do you stand on the whole snacking thing?

Depending on which book you read / what your pediatrician says / what works for your family, you might do square meals or more frequent, smaller meals. One famous pediatrician even recommends leaving out an array of snacks out for a toddler, say, in a muffin tin, so that she can eat on the go all day.

But that wouldn't work for us. First, we're rarely inside the house for long periods of time. And I never wanted to be one of those parents whose cars and sofas are full of crushed Cheerios and crackers. (Not that that's awful. And not that our house and car are clean. But anyway.)

So while I'm not militant about it, we're a three-meals-and-afternoon-snack kind of family. That works for us, but it seems we're going against the trend. This news release from McDonald's says snacking occasions are forecast to increase 3.6 percent in the United States, compared to overall eating occasions from 2004 to 2008, according to a recent report by Business Insights. The same report says fully 10 percent of Americans forgo regular meals in favor of grazing.

McDonald's is catering to the trend by introducing several new Snack Wrap varieties. Pleased with the results of its summer 2006 launch of the Ranch Snack Wrap, McDonald's today started rolling out more snacking options for customers with the new Honey Mustard Snack Wrap. In addition to the new flavor, the popular portable snacks now are available in both grilled and crispy choices.

The grilled version of the Honey Mustard wrap is pictured above. It's got chicken breast meat, cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, and a sweet and tangy Honey Mustard sauce, wrapped inside a flour tortilla. It's offered for a promotional period at $1.29 at participating McDonald's restaurants nationwide.

McDonald's already had other snack items on the menu, including the Snack Size Fruit & Walnut Salad, Fruit 'N Yogurt Parfait, and Apple Dippers, among others.

Consumers will the have the opportunity to try the new Honey Mustard Snack Wrap at sampling and trial promoting events throughout the country including NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, the CIAA Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, the Mexican National Team soccer clinic and kick off game in San Diego, Chinese New Year Parade and Festival in San Francisco, and at Spring Break activities in Panama City Beach.

You know, these snack-sized adult items might make decent substitutes for kids' meals. What do you think?

Posted by QSMama at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let's get this out of the way, before the e-mails start rolling in from corporate: I'm aware that Red Robin is not a quick-serve chain. It's more like casual dining. But the company does something I'm hoping more chains, including quick-serves and even general retail chains, will emulate.

Go read here about Red Robin's Unbridled Acts of Kindness program. But make sure you have fifteen minutes to spend reading because you'll get caught up in the mini-profiles of kind gestures performed by Red Robin employees, with the encouragement and full backing of their managers. And you'll leave the page feeling better about our society.

Props to Red Robin. And props to nine-year-old Adrianna Montgomery, pictured left, who recently won a national contest to create Red Robin's newest burger.

I'm looking forward to trying her recipe for a Spicy Asian Burger.

Posted by QSMama at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey, everyone, sorry for the extended posting break. We sorely needed some vacation around QSK HQ, also known as The Bungalow (scroll down). I hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours—full of happiness, family, and good food.

It's hard to believe the holiday season is over. I have to admit it's nice to have Baby A back in nursery school several mornings a week. (Sorry, honey, whenever you get old enough to read that. One day, when you have a wild two-year-old of your own, you'll understand.) And I'm enjoying a renewed focus on work.

A look around the industry as 2007 gets underway sees—surprise!—lots of chains playing to our New Year's resolutions. You can't swing a stick around the restaurant news section without hitting a health-focused announcement. Here are a few:

Starbucks shuns trans fats: Saying it's been working behind the scenes for a couple of years, Starbucks announced it will drop trans fats in foods in some locations. As of yesterday, company-owned Starbucks stores in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland were tol have zero trans fats in their food.

Saying everyone who resolved to eat more salads in 2007 just "caught a lucky break," Carl's Jr. announced it would add a Chipotle Chicken Salad, a blend of charbroiled chicken, fresh salsa, parmesan cheese, and zesty chipotle dressing over a bed of shredded lettuce and piled into a crispy tortilla shell bowl. "It's technically a salad," says the company, "but it's so big on taste you'll feel as though you're breaking your resolution early." Hmmmmmmm.

Speaking of salads, Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., parent company of Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants, unveiled a contest offering guests an opportunity to—quoting them, not me—"ride the fitness freeway and fulfill their New Year's resolutions."

The contest prizes will be provided by Healthyroads, Inc., a national provider of telephone- and Web-based coaching programs that help people reach their health goals. Interested? Learn more at any Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes restaurant or online here.

Organic To Go says it's expanding quickly in California and the Pacific Northwest, driven by consumer demand for convenience, speed, and, of course, organic foods. Saying it is the nation's first fast-casual cafe to be certified as an organic retailer, the company announced it ended 2006 with $10 million in sales. On tap for early 2007 are new retail, corporate, and university locations in Southern California and Washington state.

That's it for now. Check back soon for more kid- and family-friendly restaurant news.

Posted by QSMama at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a good story in the Orange County Register about the recent opening of McDonald's second R-Gym, this one in Santa Ana. Check out the video for a look inside the gym!

Quick Serve Kids reported the opening of the first location last June. (That's the location pictured to the right.) The company says it plans to open twenty locations over the next year.

Posted by QSMama at 05:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Has your family tried one of the Mongolian grill concepts? We visited our local Crazy Fire (no website—how strange!) restaurant today for lunch, and it was perfect.

If you're not familiar with the Mongolian grill thang, you grab a bowl and fill it with your choice of raw ingredients, everything from meats and tofu and veggies to noodles, eggs, ground peanuts, and cilantro. Next, you add a couple of ladles of sauce—I like a mix of ginger-lime and soy, along with a few shakes of dried red peppers.

Then you walk to the open kitchen and hand your bowl to cook who stir-fries your custom meal on a big, hot stone and hands it back to you on a plate with sticky rice. Yummmmy, and healthy.

Baby A liked making her own choices and watching her creation get cooked. I liked that she ate grilled chicken, broccoli, and steamed rice for lunch. And my own stir-fry was delicious.

Give one of these places a try at lunch or dinner. They're reasonably priced, too—our lunch was $10 for two adults and Baby A. Other similar concepts are Genghis Grill and Mongolian Grillle.

On a related note, how cute and kid-appealing are these clothespin chopsticks (above right) from CB2? You can buy them here.

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In today's advertising news: Why?

Posted by QSMama at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Already, quick-serve restaurant companies are gearing up for the holidays with special promotions and charity programs. Here are just a couple that launched November 1:

Little Caesars and Hasbro are teaming up to offer the "Bring Home Fun for the Holidays with Little Caesars and Hasbro Games" promotion nationwide. Today through December 31, 2006, a national online sweepstakes will run in conjunction with local in-store prize drawings at participating locations.

Visit this page to enter for a chance to win a grand-prize vacation for four to any Beaches Jamaica Resorts, with air travel provided by Air Jamaica. Other prizes include $500 in Hasbro Games and online shopping sprees, and Little Caesars Gift Certificates. The online sweepstakes runs from November 1 through December 31, 2006.

Visit any participating Little Caesars store to get an individual Family Game Bounceback (print piece applied to the pizza box top) while quantities last. Along with this print piece version of popular Hasbro games—Memory, Scrabble Jr., Trivial Pursuit for Kids, and Perfection—the bouncebacks include a coupon for 10 percent off Hasbro Games online.

Also, check your local Little Caesars for prize drawings. One winner from each restaurant will receive a Family Fun Pack that includes a Hasbro Games Prize Pack (Clue, Trivial Pursuit for Kids, Boggle, and Don't Break the Ice) and a Little Caesars Pizza Party.
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Here's a chance to feed the family and do some good work at the same time. The Steak n Shake Company is partnering for the fourth year with America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest network of food banks, to deliver Steakburger patties to the hungry this holiday season.

Beginning November 1, for every $5 in TakHomACard gift cards purchased, Steak n Shake will donate one Steakburger patty to one of the more than 70 of America's Second Harvest food banks. The program runs through December 25, 2006.

Last year, more than 1 million Steakburger patties were delivered to food banks; 75 percent of those donations went to people affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

While you're there, consider treating yourself—and the kids, if they've been nice, not naughty—to one of Steak n Shake seasonal milk shakes: Egg Nog, Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate. Personally, I'm going for the Egg Nog. Mmmm. These flavors are available through December 25.

Posted by QSMama at 05:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Two family-related offers to note:

El Pollo Loco is giving a $5 reward card to every guest who purchases a family meal through January 7. Guests can redeem the reward card on their next visit to El Pollo Loco for $5 toward the purchase of a family meal.

The chain's family meals come in several sizes: eight, ten, or twelve pieces of natural, citrus-marinated, flame-grilled chicken.

Meanwhile, Panera Bread is offering families a free salad when they purchase one of the chain's new Crispani handcrafted pizzas at dinnertime. Download the coupon here and redeem it from October 22 through October 25.

Panera's offer coincides with national Take Back Your Time Day, which is trying, in part, to encourage families to dine together. Right now, Panera is looking to build traffic during its dinner daypart. So, in addition to providing a destination for families to gather, Panera is launching a new website with expert podcasts, research, tips on crafting family dinner rituals, suggestions for starting a community movement, mealtime conversation
starters, dinner recipes, and advice for parents and communities interested in getting their families back to the dinner table.

Good deals—get 'em while they last!

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Carl's Jr. has counted the dollars and announced that customers supporting an in-store restaurant fundraising program last May donated more than $300,00 for breast cancer awareness and support.

Pretty impressive. Do you contribute to programs like this? I admit, I often don't. Somehow it seems cheesy. But I'll have a hard time explaining to Baby A why I would say No to a good (and inexpensive) donation. Do you find that your kids influence your donation choices?

Back to Carl's Jr.— This was the second year that the company's franchised restaurants have conducted the in-store donation program, and the first that company-operated restaurants joined in to support the cause.

During the month-long "Pink Star" charity promotion in May of this year, Carl's Jr. restaurant guests at nearly 1,000 locations across the western U.S. were encouraged to donate $1 to breast cancer when placing their order at the register. As a thank-you for the donation, these guests received a personalized pink Happy Star (I can't find one online, hence the generic pink star above) to put on display in the lobby and a coupon redeemable for a free beverage on a future visit. Funds raised during a golf tournament event in the same month bolstered the cause.

Continue reading "Carl's Jr. Raises $300K for Breast Cancer Research" »

Posted by QSMama at 06:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Did you know Subway has more restaurants than McDonald's? The company has been riding high the past few years, in spite of the whole Atkins thing, thanks to a focus on made-to-order meals and a guy named Jared.

It's been two years since Subway tweaked its deli-sandwich Kids Pak, replacing the cookie with a fruit snack and the soda with a juice box. But now the company is launching a new appeal to the six-to-ten-year-old set by co-branding its kids meals with brands that appeal to their older siblings. (Hey, that's straight oout of my parenting playbook! When in doubt, us the "big kids do it" trick.)

Subway's starting with a cross-promotion with sneaker and skate-gear company Vans, in which the Vans brand name and logo will go on key chains and jewelry that come along with Subway Kids' Paks.

Next will be a promotion featuring miniature Heelys, those sneakers with wheels built into the heels.

Subway says its business is strong among adults (who perceive healthfulness and value) and teens (who come for the value). With this move, the company hopes to capture younger kids, too—without vying with the bigger-named chains for cartoon- and movie character-based tie-ins, deals that can cost millions.

Last May, California Subway restaurants rolled out the The California Fit Kids’ Pak, with a choice of a low-fat 4-inch deli round, 1% milk or apple juice, plus a choice of apples or raisins. The special Kids’ Pak choices, which are based on sensible serving sizes, are low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, and are a good source of essential nutrients such as vitamin C, calcium, and iron.

So, parents of the six-to-ten set, what do you think? Have you had trouble convincing your kid to go to Subway with you? Will these kinds of prizes help your cause?

Posted by QSMama at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Turns out the Starbucks up the street from me has started hosting a children's storytime Tuesday mornings at 11.

Pretty interesting, given this. Hmm?

Are your local Starbucks locations doing storytimes, too? Comment and let me know.

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Smiley, the iconic face of Pittsburgh-based Eat'n Park Restaurants, turns twenty this summer. And who doesn't love an iced cookie?

To celebrate, Eat'n Park is holding a month-long party in its restaurants and in surrounding communities to honor the image that has helped shape the brand for two decades.

At all Eat'n Park locations, families can enjoy $0.99 kids meals until August 11. Children can create their own birthday card for Smiley and will receive a complimentary birthday treat bag with Smiley goodies, including limited-edition, collectable Smiley trading cards, stickers, tattoos, and a Smiley cookie. Customize a Smiley cookie, or find out more about Smiley's 20th Birthday Celebration or Eat'n Park, at the chain's web site.

Continue reading "Eat'n Park Honors Smiley with
$0.99 Kids' Meals" »

Posted by QSMama at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the Atlanta suburb where I grew up, Starbucks is now the place for teenagers to hang out after school and in the evenings. I think that's cool. There are many worse (read: illegal) things they could be doing—especially in a town where not many activities are provided for them.

Then again, I'm all about the double-skim latte. I'm biased. But I'd much rather a teenaged Baby A sneak out for a latte than for a pint of Jaeger.

Recently several QSK readers have emailed me about the media coverage of Starbucks' not-so-overt, but definitely there, attempts to market to kids and teens. Analysts on NBC's TODAY Show pinned the chain's newest line of fruit juice–based frozen drinks as a direct attempt to create lifelong brand loyalty to Starbucks.

And stories like this one in a Phoenix paper characterize Starbucks' in-the-field marketing and sampling as a direct attempt to win over the kids.

Meanwhile, Starbucks says it has never violated its promise not to market to children.

The story also makes the point that other coffee and snack chains do market to kids—the local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which has similar items on its menu, gave away ice-blended drinks to kids who brought their report cards into the stores.

Continue reading "Starbucks and Kids" »

Posted by QSMama at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

How far would you go for a free combo meal at Chick-fil-A?

Would you dress head-to-toe as a cow?

As part of the Atlanta-based chain's annual Cow Appreciation Day celebration, Chick-fil-A is offering a free combo meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) to any customer who visits one of its 1,250-plus restaurants fully dressed as a cow on Friday, July 14. If you don't feel like doing it, then maybe your kids will.

I'm posting this two days early so you have plenty of time to get that costume together.

Posted by QSMama at 06:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

What strikes me as funny about this? Is it that we go through inordinate numbers of Wet Ones and related kid-wipes?

Or is it the thought that you need to spend big marketing dollars to convince parents that having pre-moistened towelettes on hand is a good thing? C'mon, you throw a travel pack in your cart each time you're in line to check out at Target, too. Don't you?

Now Wet Ones is on a nationwide tour during which the brand will…oh, let’s just use their words…"host highly visible and downright messy challenges in which food festival attendees race against each other to complete a number of messy tasks, using Wet Ones wipes to clean up as they go, to win Wet Ones T-shirts and other prizes."

Hmm. Sounds a lot like...parenting. Except no one give us T-shirts.

Continue reading "Friday Fun: I Believe I Gave Birth to the True "Wet Ones Challenge"" »

Posted by QSMama at 06:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This online film will either (1) turn your stomach or (2) fill you with admiration.

Globat.com, a web hosting(R), released the video of a family of three from Schulenburg, Texas, documenting their quest to drive 900 miles to a White Castle in Missouri and eat 100 hamburgers each.

Continue reading "300 White Castle Burgers? In 28 Hours? Ugh." »

Posted by QSMama at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ever since Baby A arrived on our scene, TWH and I have asked each other, "What did we do with our time before her?" Life seemed very busy before baby, almost overwhelmingly so. Now that schedule—or lack of schedule, other than workdays—sounds downright leisurely.

Today at noon EST Boston Market unveils the winner of its first-ever movie contest, in which the chain asked Americans, "How would you spend an extra hour in your day?"

Over the ten-week contest, Boston Market says it got hundreds of entries ranging from personal stories of survival to creatively scripted comedy/dramas.

If I ever DID have an extra hour in my day—you know, time enough to make a movie...

Continue reading "What Would You Do With an Extra Hour? Boston Market Has Ideas" »

Posted by QSMama at 06:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)