I’m late in getting to this. There have been two recent changes to the fast food environment: supposed improvements to french fries and hamburgers.

Burger King

Last December, Burger King changed their recipe for french fries. I was very excited to hear this. For decades, I’ve been trying to understand why Burger King makes such horrible french fries. It is not hard to make good french fries. I can walk into my kitchen right now, cut up a potato, and hot oil it into great french fries. Why couldn’t Burger King even come near this feat? But this wasn’t the only reason I was interested.

I have also spent decades hearing claims from burger joints about how they had improved their menus. McDonald’s has its own think tank! And yet, not once have these places actually improved their—let’s face it—limited culinary offerings. So I was ready for some really bad Burger King french fries!

And I was disappointed. Their new french fries are far better than their old fries. They still aren’t as good as just about every other chain’s fries, but at least now they have a reasonable offering.

Jack in the Box

A month later (I can’t find a link, and I don’t care to do any more searching), Jack in the Box announced that they were improving their line of hamburgers. They were going to put seasoning on them. Barbecue burgers, here we come!

Except, of course, that the Jumbo Jack is hardly a barbecued delight. It’s not a bad burger—especially if you’re really hungry. (I’ve heard the same thing about slugs and grasshoppers.) But the seasoning is very much like putting lipstick on a pig (or Sarah Palin).

And speaking of Jack in the Box, have you seen their new commercial with the guy “marrying” bacon and then “eating the bride”? It’s creepy in a lot of ways. I don’t know what they’re thinking.