Burgers, McRibs, and a Ban on Happiness: Buzz Week in Review (The Newsroom)

The election? What election? This week was all about fast food, baby. There was the return of the McRib sandwich (cause for celebration in blue and red states), a ban on Happy Meal toys in the City by the Bay, and a curious study that calls into question the legend of the non-decomposing burger. Strap on your feedbag, kids -- it's time for the Buzz Week in Review.

The burger that wouldn't die

There is a legend. The legend of McDonald's burgers that don't decompose. For years, it's been accepted as a disturbing fact. But a new study conducted by a curious consumer shows that it's not just meat from Mickey D's that stays oddly "fresh." The study put several different burgers of the same size (but from different places) next to each other and then left them alone. None of the burgers rotted, which led the experimenter to conclude that "there's nothing that strange about a McDonald's burger not rotting." Score one public relations point for Ronald and company.

The McRib returns

The McRib sandwich returned to the Golden Arches this week, and the Web went wild. The pressed pork sandwich cut to look like a stack of ribs usually comes around once a year (kind of like a very unhealthy Santa) to select restaurants. This year, the McRib is everywhere for six artery-clogging weeks. Web searches on the mythical sandwich soared over 600% during the week, and related lookups on "mcrib coupons" and "mcrib fat content" also hit new highs. For the record, one sandwich contains 26 grams of fat. We're just saying.

A happiness ban in San Francisco

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a prelimary ban on toys in McDonald's Happy Meals. The decision still needs to pass a final vote. In the meantime, the searches on the proposed ban are soaring. Lookups on "happy meal ban," "mcdonald's happy meal toy ban," and "san francisco bans happy meals" all roared like a hungry belly. Not surprisingly, McDonald's is not a fan of the decision, claiming that the ban is not something parents want. Hey, at least Mom and Dad can have a McRib while junior pouts, right?

Also buzzing this week...

The San Francisco Giants won the World Series.

The Space Shuttle launch was delayed (again).

Nick Lachey proposed to Vanessa Minnillo. (She said yes.)