In article >,
Rona Yuthasastrakosol > wrote:
>
>"Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote in message
...
>>
><snip>
>>
>> Rachel Ray sold out to the highest bidder, which was BK, crappy as the
>> sandwiches may be........
>>
>> -Ginny
>>
>>
>
>To me, BK is at about the same level as Rachel Ray. Rick Bayless, on the
>other hand...what the hell was *he* thinking? I can't believe the same man
>who cares so much for the quality of food at his restaurants (he doesn't
>even want people to order take-out) is promoting crap like BK. What a
>disappointment.
>
>rona
>

There was an article in this week's chicago tribune about this and Rick's
reason for doing the comercial seems sound to me. Here's a link to the
story (though you may need to register):

http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...,4111213.story


Here's an excerpt, after being asked how he can treat his reputation
like a pinata:

"You know, obviously that crossed my mind a lot," Bayless says. "But if someone is taking steps in the right direction, I have to say when it's a good thing."

The good thing, in Bayless' view, is a fast-food sandwich that's 350 calories and only 5 grams of fat, a huge improvement over most fast-food sandwiches.

The Santa Fe Baguette, the one featured in the commercial (there's a Savory Mustard Baguette too) smothers a grilled chicken fillet with a mix of roasted tomatoes, bell peppers and poblano peppers. "It's really more of a Mexican profile than you expect," Bayless says. "The peppers and onions are never frozen, but roasted and shipped directly to each store; it's much less processed that way. And they're baking the bread in each unit, so the roll has a nice fresh crust."

The chicken itself, Bayless concedes, "is processed more than I'd like. It's all breast meat, but it's been chopped up some, so it doesn't have that completely fresh-chicken texture. But the fact that the chicken isn't fried is a big plus. And I think in flavor and mouth-feel that it's much less processed than other fast-food offerings."

....

"I know that some people aren't going to understand," Bayless says. "I've been a pretty loud voice about how fast food's got to get its act together, to use more healthy food and less processed food. But I endorse anything that I think is a step in the right direction."

....

"You know, if I stick my head in the sand and say, `Fast food is awful, I want all fast food to go away,' that's really a stupid position on my part," Bayless says. "A huge percentage of the American public eats fast food every day. It's not going to go away, certainly not in my lifetime. If we can encourage the fast-food companies [to provide healthier meals], I think that's very important."

--
Steven Seydell