Starting this Thursday Burger King is extending hours at its U.S. locations into the wee hours, specifically 2 a.m. or later. Don't get too excited night owls; the late-night munchies friendly sked only runs from Thursday to Saturday. It makes me wonder whether BK's looking to compete with White Castle, long the late-night go-to meal for drunks and stoners alike. I can't remember the last time I ate at a Burger King. Sadly, I can remember the last time I ate at a White Castle.

Folks who are creeped out by the plastic-faced King will be glad to know that he's not the point man for this campaign. BK has appointed Sean "Diddy" Combs as its new late-night ambassador. I don't watch much television these days, but according to the press release the first TV spot, "Diddy's Way," has begun airing. I wonder if the commercial features an urban-contemporary take on the Burger King song. One thing's for sure. Since it's directed by Spike Lee, the content has got to better than the stuff on Diddy's BK-sponsored Youtube channel.

A few weeks ago, we told you about Burger King's resistance to pay its tomato pickers an extra penny a pound,

Well, good news: they've decided to step it up and fork over the extra money. (Wow - big spenders, right?) But they, uh, generously decided to up it to 1.5 cents per pound, to cover payroll taxes and administrative costs.

But let's not get all excited and run out to buy BK burgers en masse. This is a decision they should have made in the first place, much like other fast food chains did.

In the meantime, BK is touting its new agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to further improve wages and the workers' livelihoods. Hopefully this isn't just all for show, and they really will pay more attention to the workers' needs.

Lately, there have been some raised eyebrows in BK's direction, mainly because they won't agree to pay their tomato pickers an extra penny per pound of tomatoes.

The tomato pickers have to pick 125 buckets worth of the fruit in order to get $50-60 per day, and work 10-12 hours in the hot Florida sun. The new measure would only cost BK an additional $300,000 per year, out of their $11 billion yearly revenue.

Other fast food joints have already agreed to pay their workers more, but BK continues to stall. Some people are afraid that tomato growers would wind up with the money, instead of the pickers, and others are worried the new agreement will violate antitrust rules.

But the shadiness doesn't stop there. BK execs admitted that they have a relationship with Diplomatic Tactical Services, a security firm with a creepy, amorphous name, which helps BK spy on its clients.

Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, recently wrote an op-ed for the Times on the subject, shedding light on BK's Big Brother tactics.

I always knew there was something hiding behind that awful molded plastic King in the commercials...

Do remember those Burger King commercials with the group of moms who try to run over the Burger King? They wanted to commit vehicular homicide because their kids liked Burger King food better than their home cookin'.

Not that I can blame the moms for how they feel, but I always thought that their methods were a little extreme. Yes, I know it's just a set of commercials, but still.

Well, the Costa Rican government apparently feels the same. They banned those commercials in Costa Rica. They feel the advertising "trivialized violence" on national television.

What do you think about the Costa Rican government stepping in like that?

[Via Between Editions]

I bet Burger King hates coming in second to McDonald's all the time. In fact, I'm pretty darn sure, if only because of the new products the company is introducing.

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, the world's second largest burger chain is going to start serving Kraft brand macaroni and cheese in test markets (which were not named in the article). And soon the corporation will roll out "BK Wrappers" to compete directly with its McDonald's counterpart.

Kraft brand macaroni and cheese is pretty well known in the supermarkets, but the company has a whole division for making the cheesy pasta dish for restaurants. Kraft has said it will make a macaroni and cheese just for Burger King.

Burger King spokespeople have said that while not completely aimed at children, they were a major consideration. Now parents can have one more reason their kids will love the King.

Thinking about the coming recession? Wondering where on your already tight budget you can make some cuts?

Don't worry. Fast food is here to save the wallet!

Apparently, fast-food chains have already felt the pinch of recessions fears with slacking sales, and in anticipation of what might become a full-blown hit, have begun offering value items on their menus. Wendy's introduced the double cheeseburger "Stack Attack" on its 99-cent value menu, Burger King's usually $2 Double Cheeseburger is half price for $1 now, and even non-burger fast food restaurants like Tao Bell are in the discount game with 99 cent gorditas.

I'm just waiting for In N Out to offer a $1 Double Double. Animal-style, of course.

You've probably seen those Burger King commercials where hidden cameras capture the reactions of customers who are told that they've discontinued the Whopper. Some folks get mildly irritated while a few people go ballistic. They're probably lucky someone didn't go over the edge and injure someone because of it. My favorite is the woman in the car who tells the person taking drive-thru orders that she wants to talk to the manager. As if he would have any say in what corporate decides will be discontinued.

But the ads have worked. The sales of Whoppers increased by a double digit percentage. It's not the only hoax BK pulled on customers. Another day the Burger King locations (in Las Vegas) said they didn't have Whoppers but gave the customers McDonald's and Wendy's burgers instead.

Customers didn't like that, but I wonder how many customers actually didn't get upset?

NYC's Board of Health attempted last year to pass a measure that forced fast food joints to post calorie counts on their menu boards, right where people could see them (and, I guess, be horrified by them and run screaming from the restaurant. Or...something. Not quite sure what the city's goal was).

At any rate, a judge struck down the measure, so now they're back to where they started. But they're not giving up on trying to hoard their mighty caloric knowledge on the citizens of New York! By golly, they will succeed in getting people to acknowledge the 600 calories in that Premium Crispy Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich they're eating! And then the Board of Health officials will sleep soundly at night, feeling virtuous that they have single-handedly handled the "obesity epidemic." Right?

For the record, Burger King and McDonald's already make this information available (it took me half a minute to find how many calories were in that Chicken McWhatever listed above), they just don't advertise it like the marquee outside of Radio City. Currently, if the city's restaurants want to display their food's nutritional info, they are more than welcome to.

And I mean, really, how many people nowadays don't know that fast food is bad for them? I highly doubt that prominently displaying caloric information will make people who have already walked through a eatery's doors gawk at the fat content and walk out of the store in a huff. I mean, if I want a cookie, I'm eating the cookie knowing that it's bad for me (and even secretly reveling in that fact).

If enacted, the regulation will go into effect March 31. So, until then, we can remain uneducated, bumbling masses. Sound good?

I'm really not sure what to say about this particular food holiday. I mean, in America, isn't every day National Fast Food Day?

So...how to celebrate this holiday? I can't really link to any recipes, but maybe you can go to McDonald's or Burger King for lunch? Or if you'd like to take the opposite route, maybe rent Morgan Spurlock's SuperSize Me.

I have to admit that the other night, after getting out of a Police concert and finding the only thing open nearby was a McDonald's, I bought two large fries and two small Diet Cokes. And at 11:15 at night, after I hadn't eaten a thing all day, I can honestly say it was one of the best meals I've ever had in my life.

Of course, a lot of people would say "just avoid fast food altogether!" But sometimes you just need a Wendy's double cheeseburger and fries.

The folks over at A Calorie Counter have looked at the nutritional info for all of the fast food outlets (McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, A&W, Arby's, Hardee's, In-N-Out Burger, Jack in the Box, Little Caesars, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Sonic, Subway, Taco Bell, Wendy's, White Castle, Popeyes, Del Taco, Carl's Jr., and Dairy Queen) and have compiled a list of the 88 worst foods you can buy, in terms of the amount of trans fats. After the jump, the 10 worst. The link above gives you the whole list.

I didn't even know that this site had anything to do with a cross promotion that Burger King is doing with the new Simpsons Movie. Even though I went to the site and saw that creepy king guy before I saw a commercial for the site last night it still didn't register.

But this site works really well. You upload a picture of yourself and it turns you into a Simpsons-ish character. I can't find a good enough picture for myself (it has to be a fairly close-up face pic, in color, and at least 640x480 pixels), but a friend of mine did it and the character it created was uncanny. If you do it, put in a link to your site in the comments and show us the results!

I haven't been to McDonald's in quite some time, but today might be the perfect day to stop by.

It's National French Fries Day. It doesn't sound like the healthiest of food holidays, but it's Friday (and Friday the 13th!) so maybe you can splurge diet-wise today.

Here's a basic recipe for french fries, and here's one for Cajun French Fries. This is a recipe for healthier Oven Baked Fries, and here's one for Japanese Frites. Of course, you could just go to McDonald's like I'm going to do. They still have the best fast food fries, right? Like I said, I haven't been in a really long time.

When I go into a fast food place such as McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's (which I think I've done maybe 3 times in the past 3 years), I know beforehand that I have made a decision to eat badly that day. I don't care if these places have "salads" or "low-fat foods," it's still fast food to me, and I don't need anyone to tell me what I'm about to eat probably has a lot of fat and calories.

Having said that, I see no real problem with New York City restaurants having to show calorie info where customers can see it. The law took effect earlier this week. Some of the fast food companies argued that it "violated their First Amendment rights," which I still don't understand. Some places are putting the info in areas where they're not immediately accessible to customers, while other places, like Subway, have the info upfront.

Fines will start being issued October 1 for restaurants that violate the law.

When I hear the phrase spam and eggs the first thing I usually think of is Monty Python. That's not to say that I haven't ever enjoyed the guilty pleasure of a sandwich of scrambled eggs and Spam. But the much maligned potted meat is more than an occasional meal item in Hawaii, it's an institution.

McDonald's has offered the pinkish mystery meat as part of its breakfast menu in Hawaii for five years. Now its rival Burger King is getting in on the action. The King recently began offering the Spam Platter, which consists of two slabs of Spam, flanked on either side by white rice and scrambled eggs. The Croissanwich or Biscuit Sandwich with Spam have also been added to the menu. I wonder if they've created any ad spots with the King flashing the "hang loose" sign with one hand while digging into a Spam platter with the other.

Have you ever eaten in a restaurant or bought a food product at the store and said to yourself, "heck, I can make something better than this!"? Well, then this contest is for you.

Wendy's is looking for someone to design a new burger for them. You get to choose from a variety of various toppings, cheeses, and sauces. I have to admit that pepperoni on a burger sounds quite good, though I don't know if I'd go with sauerkraut. The winner gets $25,000 and they might add your creation to the regular menu in 2008. Runners up get free burgers for a year! (Wendy's are my favorite fast food burger, I should enter.)

The site says "may we suggest you start your burger the way we start all Wendy's burgers - with a fresh, never frozen, beef patty." What, did we have another option? Heh.