$1 Big Texas Cheeseburger is taunting me

Fuck you Jack in the Box! Fuck you for enticing me with this image every morning on my walk to work. I know it's a lie. There's no way you are offering a Big Texas Cheeseburger for only $1. It doesn't look like that picture. But every damn morning I have to walk past this delicious looking 6-foot tall lie and be tempted to break my boycott of you.

(I suffered the worst food poisoning of my life in early 2008 and it occurred after eating a questionable chicken sandwich from this very Jack in the Box. Haven't been back since.)
The sketchy looking Jack in the Box mascot whispers into my mind's ear, "It's only a dollar! What are the odds of lightning striking twice? You're not going to get sick again! Stop being paranoid."
I won't do it Jack in the Box! I've never before purposefully boycotted a restaurant for this long, let alone one so close to my work.

You will not break me with your false imagery, even if it would make an excellent contribution to my ongoing investigative series debunking food advertising. All I have to do is remember how miserable I was with food poisoning. It was so bad that a nurse had to inject an anti-nausea medication into my buttocks to make the throw up stop.

I just hope this "Limited Time Only" come to an end soon, so this Jack in the Box can go back to advertising its Denver Breakfast Bowls or something else lame.

Food Ads Exposed: Smart Ones Chicken Oriental

Besides having a mildly racist name, Smart Ones Chicken Oriental offers "juicy white meat chicken in a savory Oriental sauce with vegetables and rice." I bought this frozen meal because it cost only $1.80, but it tastes just as cheap. The flavor is kind of a one note, and the chicken tastes like, well, chicken that has been frozen, cooked, frozen again, then microwaved.

But it's low in calories (230) and contains enough sodium (640 mg) to keep you powering through the eating process. I spent less than two dollars on this meal and I won't have have to eat for at least three hours. Sounds like a win win to me!

I also think Smart Ones' motto could use some work, "Taste so good, you want to be good." What?

Food Ads Exposed: Lean Cuisine Roasted Turkey Breast

Because I can't get enough of this, here's my lunch:



Not the worst transgressor I've ever seen, but still quite a disparity between the promise made and the promise kept.

Food Ads Exposed: Banquet Homestyle Grilled Meat Patty Meal

I bought this meal because it was only 88 cents and the idea of a "Grilled Meat Patty Meal" made me laugh. Check out what it really looks like inside.
When I showed this picture to S. she laughed and said, "That looks like shit next to vomit." And then I laughed out loud.

The patty kind of has the consistency of shit and the noodles are mushy like they were half-digested, but really the whole thing just tastes like a very salty simulated gravy.