We thought Burger King was being so inventive with the creation of Mac n’ Cheetos, but the company is being accused of ripping the idea from Kyle Marcoux, aka “The Vulgar Chef.” Marcoux, whose goal in life is to make everyone eat terribly, is responsible for food monstrosities such as the pizza-stuffed pizza, the meat tornado, and the cheeseburger with the french-fry buns.
With all those disgusting/delicious credits under his belt, is it any wonder that he also came up with the concept of combining macaroni and cheese with Cheetos? And nearly a year before Burger King released their version? There’s some evidence to back up Marcoux’s claim: Back in September 2015, he released a video documenting the steps to making what he called “Cheetos Crusted Mac N/Cheese Fries.”
Big news: Marcoux isn’t happy about the fact that his idea may have been stolen by a huge fast-food chain. And he’s not mincing words about it, either. As he told Foodbeast, “At first I was like what the f*ck? Like…you’re f*cking Burger King. It actually is a little flattering that a company as large as BK would take an idea from a fat, drunk, illiterate food blogger who is basically an Internet food troll. Kind of sad if you ask me.”
But it’s not the first time his ideas may have been ripped off by others, like Giordano’s Pizza, the Chicago Cubs and, apparently Buzzfeed. According to Marcoux, someone at the site was making videos based on recipes that he and other food writers had created without giving them any credit:
I was able to email the dude making the rip-off recipes on behalf of myself and other food bloggers and let him know how much of a f*cking hack and pile of sh*t he was. Vulgar Chef – 1, Buzzfeed – 0…After that, any Buzzfeed recipes videos posted would tag appropriate food bloggers who inspired their sh*tty videos.
Marcoux’s biggest beef with his recipes being stolen is the fact that he isn’t being credited for them. And when you spend as much time and effort in creating a brand like The Vulgar Chef, that’s sort of a huge deal.
“If I could write an open letter…I would tell them I love them and their artery clogging food, and if they want any help creating new exotic menu items to drop me a f*cking email,” he told Foodbeast. “Don’t just skim through my blog and try to sneak one over on me. All of us food bloggers want at the end of the day is credit.”
Will Burger King give The Vulgar Chef the recognition he deserves if there’s actual merit to his claim? Probably not. His recipes, published publicly on the internet, are fair game. But hopefully the controversy will at least give him a bit more name recognition and boost his popularity. Because we all need poutine tacos and cheeseburger grinders in our lives.
