Prices on Airline Snacks are Up, Up, and Away

This just in: JetBlue Airlines might start offering customers a “premium snack service,” which would include VitaminWater and Rockstar Engergy drinks. A little strange, don’t you think? I imagine that most people flying JetBlue aren’t in an economic position to shell out $3 for a VitaminWater, so what are the JetBlue execs thinking?

Three guesses:

1. their current image could use a little work (even Tracey Ullman takes some shots on YouTube)
2. they just really, really like Raspberry Apple VitaminWater (so energizing! it’s like you’re drinking a yoga class!)
3. the airline is making so little money that it’s ready to gamble on a half-baked premium scheme, while secretly contemplating charging customers for the snacks it already offers.

Of course, JetBlue execs say they’re not going to start pricing their free snacks, but it’s hard to believe them. United Airlines recently raised snack prices to $9, and with fuel prices escalating daily, I doubt it will be long before other airlines follow suit. Ahhh, yeah. Nothing like a $5 bag of pretzels to brighten up your next red eye.

• BusinessWeek Article on Premium Snack Service

Snack News: Pizza Vending Machines Coming to a Breakroom Near You!

Fresh, hot pizza in 30 minutes or less? Funk dat! How about TWO minutes!

No, it’s not a sign of the Apocalypse, just a super-fast melding of pizza-making and machine vending engineering from the folks at WonderPizza. Check out this video of a slender Italian woman plunking coins into a pizza vending machine the size of a Mini Cooper-S while funky fresh beats play in the background.

The machines have been spitting out two-minute pizzas around the world for nearly five years and are heading to the U.S. Duck and cover!

Perfect for people who’ve GOTTA HAVE PIZZA RIGHT NOW!

Thanks to Wall Street Fighter for bringing this abomination to light.

Snack News: Scientific Proof: There really is always room for dessert!

Many of us believe that dessert goes into a second stomach. In Japan, they have a word for it: betsubara. Now, the Japanese have proven that it’s true, in a sense.

On the Kaitai Shin Show in June, gastroenterologist Shigeki Koyama of the Kusatsu General Hospital fed two women a large meal of French food until they were full. Each woman was then put into an MRI machine, and we saw their stomachs, and that they were indeed full.

The women were then shown a piece of cake. Merely looking at the cake was enough to cause the stomach to make more room by pushing food into the intestines. On the MRI of the first woman we could see the stomach narrowing, and pulsing at the opening to the intestines. On the MRI of the second we saw that the small amount of room left in her stomach at the end of the meal had gotten bigger.

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The “What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar?” Online Video Contest

Klondike, maker of wonderful chocolate-covered ice cream bars, is having a contest to find the best video detailing what you would do for a Klondike Bar. The grand-prize winner will receive $100,000 and a trip to meet with Saturday Night Live comedic writing stars Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island. You can also win $25,000 just for watching and rating videos.

What are you waiting for? Make a video and enter! Full contest details are available at the contest’s website, http://www.klondikecontest.com