Mac n' Cheetos

Mac n' Cheetos

Three orders of Mac n' Cheetos
Nutritional value per 5 pieces (115 g)
Energy 310[1] kcal (1,300 kJ)
37 g
Sugars 9 g
Dietary fiber 2 g
13 g
Saturated 4.5 g
Trans 0 g
9 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A 0 IU
Vitamin C
(0%)

0 mg

Minerals
Calcium
(0%)

0 mg

Iron
(0%)

0 mg

Sodium
(47%)

710 mg

Other constituents
Energy from fat 120 kcal (500 kJ)
Cholesterol 15 mg
Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: Burger King

The Mac n' Cheetos was a deep-fried cheese-flavored, puffed cornmeal and macaroni and cheese product sold by the international fast food chain store Burger King. Mac n' Cheetos is the combination of both macaroni and cheese and the Frito-Lay snack Cheetos. Mac n' Cheetos were first introduced in late June 2016.

The product contained five pieces and it initially came with ranch dressing. It was sold for an eight-week period depending on supply. Many publications have pointed out how Mac n' Cheetos is part of a larger trend of blending fast food with well-known snack foods as well as reflecting the current state of fast food alliances.

History

In 2015, Burger King entered into a partnership with PepsiCo's Frito-Lay, which also owns the Doritos and Ruffles brands.[1] Mac n' Cheetos marked the first time the Cheetos brand has extended beyond chips into hybrid foods.[1]

On June 22, 2016, Burger King announced that they would begin selling the product the next week.[1][2][3] The product was initially test-marketed at Burger King restaurants during a product trial in Southern California.[1][2][4] Mac n' Cheetos were introduced nationwide on June 27, 2016.[3][5][6] In an interview, Burger King president Alex Macedo said "We’re partnering up with one of Americans’ favorite brands. It’s quite unique."[1]

Mac n' Cheetos, including other Burger King products like the recently introduced Oscar Mayer hot dogs, reflects the fast-food alliances restaurants have with other companies.[1][3] While PepsiCo owns Frito-Lay's Cheetos, the American restaurants sell The Coca-Cola Company beverages.[1] Despite this recent product, Macedo remarked "It’s not a plan for us to migrate to Pepsi. Our relationship with Coke is as good as it is with PepsiCo."[1] However, Macedo has said "We’re working on a few other menu items. There’s room for us to do more together in the future."

Other fast food restaurants like Taco Bell have previously employed a similar strategy. In 2010, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) introduced the Double Down as an April Fools' Day joke.[7][8] In 2012, Taco Bell, which is owned by Yum! Brands, introduced the Doritos Locos Tacos whose taco shell is composed of the Doritos chip.[9][4][1][2][10][8][3][11] Offshoots followed as Cool Ranch, Nacho Cheese and Fiery Doritos.[1]

Product description

Mac & Cheetos are fried macaroni and cheese bites shaped and colored to resemble Cheetos brand cheese curls.[1] The product contains five pieces and was initially served with a side of ranch dressing.[2][4] Reports varied on the appearance of the Mac n' Cheetos. Fox News described the menu item as "bright orange" and "the shape is pretty unusual".[9] Chicago Tribune's Joseph Hernandez called the color of the menu item "neon-orange".[12] Consequence of Sound's Ben Kaye remarked that they were "new cat poop-shaped fried mac and Cheeto cheese curls".[13] Consumerist's Ashlee Kieler perceived its color as "glowing, orange-ish".[14] The Verge's Dami Lee commented that they were "coagulated orange clumps of processed cheese".[4] Bloomberg News's Leslie Patton said it was "portable macaroni-and-cheese bites are similar to mozzarella sticks".[1]

The Raw Story's Brad Reed saw it as "radioactive-orange" and "Trump-colored", but remarked "do look marginally more appetizing than the terrifying bright-red Whopper Burger King released earlier this year".[15] Vice's Alex Swerdloff noted the product as "a chode-like mass" and resembling "the lovechild of E.T.’s finger and a bloated corpse that was given a spray tan".[3] Yahoo! Style's Claire Lower called them "orange nuggets".[6] The Denver Post's Megan McArdle reported it "bearing the same resemblance to real food as a plastic Lego tree does to a stately elm".[16] The Guardian's Joshua David Stein said the Cheetos crust was "bright orange".[8] The Capital Times's Rob Thomas said they were "five stubby cylinders that look like mozzarella sticks, dusted heavily with orange Cheeto dust".[11]

Fox News Channel's Chew On This performed a blind taste test for Mac n' Cheetos in the streets of New York City. Reception proved positive.[3][9] In the web series Juggalos Review Foods, two Insane Clown Posse fans (or Juggalos) tried the Mac n' Cheetos with a more mixed reception.[7][13] One of the hosts appraised the food product with "this tastes like processed weird gross mac and cheese-like gimmicky piece of crap food item from Burger King".[7][13]

USA Today's Ted Berg said "they’re not good" but also "not totally awful" either.[14][17] Kotaku's Mike Fahey said "pleased to report that Mac n’ Cheetos taste much better than they look" but also that they do not taste like the cheese puff but rather like the Kellogg's cracker Cheez-It.[18] Chicago Tribune's Joseph Hernandez described the meal as "gritty, fried nugget of Easy Mac, rolled in the remains of the bottom of a bag of Cheetos".[12][14] Yahoo! Style's Claire Lower said "I liked them but, maybe this is because my standards for stunt food are much too high, I didn't love them."[6] The Capital Times's Rob Thomas reviewed the interior of the Mac n' Cheetos favorably stating "does indeed have the satisfying cheesy blandness of a container of quick-zapped microwave Easy Mac, salty and starchy". However, Thomas was critical of how it did not taste like Cheetos saying "[i]t’s very disappointing".[11]

Nutrition

One serving of Mac n' Cheetos contains 310 calories.[1][2][15]

Advertising

Burger King called its product a "dangerously cheesy re-imagination".[14]

Controversy

Speculation surfaced that the Mac n' Cheetos may have been the idea of a popular food blogger. In September 2015, the Vulgar Chef posted a recipe "Cheetos Crusted Mac n' Cheese Fries".[19][10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Patton, Leslie (June 22, 2016). "Burger King Jumps Into Snack-Brand Hybrids With Mac 'n Cheetos". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Premack, Rachel (June 23, 2016). "Burger King's latest fast food monstrosity is sadly genius". Wonkblog. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Swerdloff, Alex (July 1, 2016). "America Loves Burger King's Mac N' Cheetos and We're All Doomed". Munchies. Vice. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lee, Dami (June 22, 2016). "Burger King's new Mac n' Cheetos are so beautiful I want to cry". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Lower, Claire (June 24, 2016). "My Standards for Stunt Food Are High: An Entirely Serious Review of Burger King's Mac 'n' Cheetos". xoJane. Time Inc. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Lower, Claire (June 28, 2016). "My Standards for Stunt Food Are High: An Entirely Serious Review of Burger King's Mac 'n' Cheetos". Yahoo! Style. Yahoo!. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Peck, Jamie (July 11, 2016). "Not even Juggalos can stomach Burger King's Mac n' Cheetos". Death and Taxes. SpinMedia. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 Stein, Joshua David (June 26, 2016). "Burger King's Mac n' Cheetos: a logical step in America's quest for innovation". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 News.com, Fox (June 30, 2016). "People actually like Burger King's Cheeto-dusted mac and cheese bites". FoxNews.com. Fox News. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Shah, Khushbu (June 24, 2016). "Did Burger King Rip Off Those Viral "Mac n' Cheetos" From a Popular Food Blogger?". Food.Mic. Mic. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 Thomas, Rob (July 18, 2016). "Yeah, I Ate That: Burger King Mac & Cheetos may not make America great again". The Capital Times. The Capital Times Company. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  12. 1 2 Hernandez, Joseph (June 27, 2016). "We taste Burger King's Mac n' Cheetos, now available in Chicago". Chicago Tribune. tronc. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Kaye, Ben (July 12, 2016). "Even Juggalos think Burger King's Mac n' Cheetos are gross". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Kieler, Ashlee (June 29, 2016). "Burger King's "Slightly Congealed" Mac N' Cheetos Underwhelm Customers, Food Reviewers". Consumerist. Consumer Media LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Reed, Brad (June 22, 2016). "Burger King's new 'Mac 'n Cheetos' sticks leave the world gasping in horror". The Raw Story. Raw Story Media, Inc. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  16. ↑ McArdle, Megan (July 20, 2016). "Judge not your neighbor's love for Mac n' Cheetos". The Denver Post. Digital First Media. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  17. ↑ Berg, Ted (June 28, 2016). "I tried Burger King's new Mac 'n Cheetos, and they're not good". For The Win. USA Today. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  18. ↑ Fahey, Mike (June 22, 2016). "Snacktaku Eats Burger King's Mac N' Cheetos". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  19. ↑ Lancaster, Evan (August 4, 2016). "Pissed Off Chef Has Proof Burger King Stole His Mac N' Cheetos Idea". Foodbeast. Foodbeast.com. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
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