Sam Smith

The industry—in line with the economy—is experiencing a very uninspiring recovery. But a recovery nonetheless.

There are different approaches to take with your promotional videos collected on branded YouTube channels. You can simply show off your TV commercials. You can interview guests. If you’ve got big bucks, you could produce your own high-concept entertainment (see McDonald’s Bite Size Video Project). But a tactic open to every concept is the behind-the-scenes video, and as a way to extend your brand and connect with the customer it is still one of the best. Here are five who do it the right way. Click the restaruant name to see for yourself.

Operators are being asked more and more often if their menu contains GMOs, e.g. genetically modified organisms, e.g. Frankenfood. In the March issue of the...

A very cool idea this week from a startup service that both helps customers eat less and feeds the needy. McDonald’s Australia has an idea to surprise would-be Hamburglars. And in New York City the unthinkable happens: Chinese takeout… changes. It’s the first sign of the apocalypse in this installment of The Week in Ideas.

There would seem no way possible 2012 could be as withering a year in commodity prices as 2011, and the New Year kicked off with positive news: Congress allowed its 30-year-old subsidies for corn-based ethanol to expire. Ethanol will still be produced, but commodity forecasters expect that in the long run, corn-based fuel production will take up less and less of the corn crop, meaning less competition and better prices for food uses.

A drive-thru attendant’s job is fairly simple: take orders, make change, pour drinks, double check orders, be the face of the brand for an instant. Now cell phone cameras are adding another responsibility: straight man for the amateur prankster.