Every holiday comes with its traditional fare. During Lent the fast food chains bombard us with fried fish sandwiches. People lose their minds over Cadbury Easter eggs each spring. Candy corn makes Halloween more enjoyable. And for most of fall we add pumpkin to anything that will sit still. Few restaurants other than your surly neighborhood Irish pub get any attention on St. Patrick’s Day, but during the last ten years, McDonald’s has moved in on that market.

They didn’t do it with corned beef or potatoes or even soda bread, but instead with something not even remotely close to being Irish. They did it with ice cream.

Their Shamrock Shake has almost become the stuff of drive-through legends, falling behind its popular brother the McRib. With much fanfare the restaurant announces “It’s Back!” and fills customers with this cool, creamy mint shake just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Other than the fact that mint is green and St. Patrick’s day is green, we’ve yet to find much connection between the holiday and the herb.

What we have found is that the McDonald’s Shamrock Shake, for the small 12 ounces, will fill you up with 530 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 73 grams of sugar. That last one sent even us in to a bit of shock. Seventy three grams of sugar in a 12-ounce cup is, to put it mildly, a lot.
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McDonald’s isn’t usually one to make headlines for positive news, but that’s just what they’ve done this week. The company announced yesterday that it will commit to serving only certified-sustainable seafood at all of its locations, making it the first U.S. national restaurant chain to do so.

This, of course, is big news for sustainability advocates as McDonald’s is the one of the largest single buyers of fish in the U.S.

Consumers will notice the change not only in the company’s packaging, which will now include a blue ecolabel of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). But also in a marketing effort which will roll out as soon as the changes are official in early February. In addition to their famous Filet-O-Fish sandwich, McDonald’s will also launch a new product called Fish McBites, which will be made with MSC-certified, wild-caught Alaska pollock.

As reported by the Huffington Post, the MSC is an independent non-profit organization that sets standards for sustainable fishing based on the impacts a fishery has on its ecosystem, its fish stock health, and its fishery management system.
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You know advertising is a big deal when there’s such a thing as Advertising Week in the U.S. While few consumers took note, the event is happening this week in New York with the goal of identifying how brands sold by marketers can produce better business results.

A study released yesterday identified which brands are the most powerful and how they’re getting it right. Additionally, the study pointed out the problems of brands whose value is on the decline.

As reported by Yahoo Finance, the study is the 13th annual Best Global Brands report from Interbrand – an Omnicon Group-owned brand consulting company. The result of the study was a ranking of the top 100 most valuable brands based on measures such as financial performance, how the brand influences consumer choices, and its ability to boost its parent company’s earnings.

The best global brands of 2012 include 1) Coca-Cola, 2) Apple, 3) IBM, 4) Google and 5) Microsoft. Ferrari and Gap round out the list in slots 99 and 100, respectively.

Of the ranking, Christine Fruecthe, president and chief executive at Colle and McVoy advertising agency, believes companies should take note as to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to marketing and advertising their brand. ”When we put together advertising programs, we’re constantly keeping in mind how to add shareholder value,” she said during the Advertising Week panel on Monday. “We want to have a tangible impact on the client’s business or service.”

As an example of their work, Colle and McVoy pointed to their client Caribou Coffee Company whose share value has risen from $1.17 to $18 since beginning work with the agency. The message here? Advertising is powerful, and when done well, it works.

Coca-Cola knows this. The soda company was ranked number one again for the 13th consecutive year. Its estimated brand value? $77.8 billion, up 8 percent from the 2011 report. Coca-Cola executive vice president and chief marketing commercial officer Joseph Tripodi believes this success is due to effective ads, which he suspects will help Coca-Cola increase its revenue from $95 billion in 2008 to $200 billion in 2020.
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Ah, the weekend is upon us and it is time for a dose of healthy news. This week’s HealthBuzz is filled with buzzworthy headlines from DIR and our friends, like Shape, iVillage, Fitday. Plus, we offer some guilt-free comfort foods like 12 healthy pop-tart recipes from Undressed Skeleton.

You don’t have to wait until the last day of the week to hear from us! Follow us on Twitter, Pinterest, or ‘Like Us’ on Facebook! 

New York City Soda Ban Passes; Soda Industry Plans to Fight

Since Mayor Bloomberg proposed NYC’s soda ban a couple of months ago, citizens have been vocal about their support or opposition. As of Thursday morning, NYC approved the ban of sugared beverages over 16 ounces. But, Major Bloomberg and public health officials in NYC shouldn’t celebrate their victory just yet. There is a possibility that the soda industry plans to fight back. New Yorkers for Beverage Choices has already started campaigning in opposition of the ban.

McDonald’s Posting Nutrition Information on Menus Nationwide, but Will it Do Any Good?

Get ready to see calorie counts on McDonald’s restaurant and drive-thru menus. Wednesday morning the company announced that they will be posting their meals’ nutrition information on their menus. Do you think the nutrition information will change the eating habits of fast food customers? Our resident dietitian, Mary Hartley, comments.

Regular Yoga Practice May Increase Productivity at Work

Yoga offers a great deal of health benefits, like less stress, toned body, and improved digestion. September is National Yoga Month, and our yoga expert Jill mentioned that those who practice yoga regularly may even see an increase in productivity at work. See what other benefits practicing yoga brings.
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Ever wonder how many calories are in a McDonald’s meal? If you do want to know just how nutritionally void that Big Mac is, you would have to pull up the information on the restaurant’s web site. Until now!

Today, the corporation announced that they will list nutrition information on restaurant and drive-thru menus nationwide. President Obama’s new health regulation requires restaurant chains to post calorie information. McDonald’s move comes ahead of federal government regulation that could require major chains to post nutrition information as early as next year.

Jan Fields, president of McDonald’s USA, said in a press release that the company volunteered to give out their nutrition information. “We believe it will help educate customers.”

I asked our resident dietitian, Mary Hartley, what she thinks of McDonald’s providing their nutrition information, and she said, “It’s good publicity and they (McDonalds) know it really won’t make a difference, but who knows what will happen over time. Many people have no idea of how many calories they need and so the information is meaningless.” She points to the fact that New York City has required calories posted on menus for several years and it’s done little to change buyer behavior there.
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