Fast Food Christmas

Have you had a fast food Christmas yet? Oh, don't know what I am talking about? It's the latest in fast food marketing, the special Christmas treat. Yep! The junk food sellers are throwing even more junkie holiday specials at us and doing so at inflated prices. So many hungry Christmas shoppers have visions, not only of sugar plums, but of holiday flavored coffee, donuts, and candy cane shaped sandwiches to keep their energy level going while shopping for their crazy uncle's gift during Christmas time. Here are some of this seasons favored Holiday treats.
* Einstein Brothers Bagels- This chain of bagel specialists twists two potato bagels together, adds red die and sugar and produces a bagel candy cane.
* Starbucks- They offer peppermint mocha, egg nog and my favorite gingerbread lattes. Hmmmm Putting them in red Christmas cups makes even Santa thirsty for one of those. If your hungry while at Starbucks you can have the gingerbread scones or eggnog pastries sold at Christmas time.
* McDonald's- They put their "premium coffee" (Can McDonald's have a premium anything?) in holiday cups and also sell an eggnog milkshake.
* Dunkin Donuts- I like the pumpkin and gingerbread muffins at Dunkin and a very good gingerbread lattte. Dunkin has been concentrating on coffee the past few years to compete with coffee houses like Starbucks.
* El Pollo Loco- The Mexican fast food chains also sell their traditional Christmas foods. This one has the seasonal chicken tamale * Baskin Robbins- This one has special ice cream flavors now. I like the Gingerbread, Winter White Chocolate and Peppermint Stick Holiday flavors. And there are many seasonal shakes and other ice cream specialties.
* Wendy's- The Wendy's hamburger chain gives out Christmas toys with it's kid meal offerings, even some ornaments in those meal kits for the tree for the little ones to hang. Well, there are more fast food seasonal treats for sale but that's the idea. Most of these seasonal treats are big winners for the fast food businesses, given they are all sold at higher prices than regular menu items. But consumers love them. They are festive and reassuring to people who are hurried and frazzled by shopping and other holiday obligations. When a fast food eater buys one of those seasonal treats he or she is treating him or herself to a small part of Christmas, a boost for one's Christmas spirit. The sellers are smart to limit the sale to only December, even when the item (as the case with the Starbuck's Gingerbread Latte) is hugely popular with buyers. Otherwise the appeal of the goodies will wear thin.
So don't be a grinch this year. Even if most fast food is bland and unappealing, some of these specialty items are tasty and will make you feel more like a Christmas participant than a Christmas observer. Need a last minute Christmas gift? How about a Chocolate cake from Osaka, Japan's Takashimaya department store? It's a little pricey though, as in $850.000. I hardly think that qualifies as one of the fast food Christmas goodies, because this one is loaded with 100 diamonds. That''s 50 carats of diamonds on top of the chocolate goodie. The Japanese are known for the extreme and adventuristic, but not a single person in Osaka has purchased this Christmas cake. Takashimaya says the cake is a bargain because the jewels are worth the price. Uh....if you decide to buy one and send it to me this Christmas I can send my address in my next missive.