Morning Brief: How Fast Food Chicken Sandwiches Stack Up, Rising No Name Prices & More

Happy Hump Day — Andrew from Narcity here. ☕

Off The Top: A pair of travellers received a funny surprise when double-checking their itinerary in the lead-up to the start of their adventure: Instead of buying tickets to Budapest, Hungary, they had inadvertently booked flights to Bucharest, Romania — and it was too late to cancel. The two ultimately followed through despite the mix-up, taking in some of the sights and sounds of Transylvania — which pretty much sounds like the setup for a vampire movie.

HEY YOU! You should sign up for the email version of this newsletter right here. It's better than this version. Trust me.

In Case You Missed It

Are No Name Products Cheaper Than Other Brands?

Loblaws President Galen Weston Jr. in a No Name commercial. Right: No Name cottage cheese.

No Name Brands | Twitter, Stuart McGinn | Narcity

Once synonymous with savings, shoppers are noticing that the price of Loblaws' No Name brand products is skyrocketing just like basically everything else at the grocery store these days. In fact, No Name prices are more expensive than regular brands in some cases; one shopper posted a photo online showing Black Diamond brand cheese slices going for 50 cents less than the No Name alternative. Stuart McGinn walks us through the latest grocery aisle angst.

• Conspiracy? One commenter wondered whether Loblaws had jacked the prices up on some of its No Name products in order "to cut them for next week's sale."
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Which Fast Food Chain Makes The Best Fried Chicken Sandwich?

Tristan Wheeler holding all the chicken sandwiches. Right: The chicken sandwiches piled up.

Tristan Wheeler | Narcity

Always a glutton for empirical evidence, Tristan Wheeler has once again put his gastrointestinal tract to the test for our benefit. This time, the fast food connoisseur hopes to settle the great fast food chicken sandwich debate, determining once and for all which chain is worth a cluck.

Tristan put offerings by McDonald's, A&W, Wendy's and Popeyes to the test — and it didn't take long to figure out that one of these fried chicken sandwiches towered above the others.

• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Are Netflix Users Really Cancelling Their Subscriptions?

A TV screen with Netflix.

Dennizn | Dreamstime

Since beginning its crackdown against account sharing earlier this year, Netflix appears to be losing steam in the fight for your streaming subscription dollars. On the Reddit board r/AskACanadian, someone recently asked whether others had cancelled their Netflix subscriptions in light of the changes — and the response was largely affirmative, Janice Rodrigues notes.

• In Their Words: "Had a subscription for years despite barely using it myself," said one respondent. "Netflix is so out of touch they really had no idea how many people probably existed like I did."
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

What Else You Need To Know Today

✈️ PLANE GAMES
Ever show up to your seat on the airplane only to discover it looks nothing like what was promised by the airline? That happened to a couple who paid big bucks for business class seats on an Emirates flight only to discover outdated amenities — so a tribunal granted them a more than $12,000 USD payout. Asymina Kantorowicz explains why the law came to the passengers' defence.

😮 WHAT THE ZELL
The Zellers comeback tour is nigh, titillating shoppers eagerly awaiting another place to purchase cheaply made goods. While the old brick-and-mortar in-store restaurants aren't returning, the relaunch will feature a roving food truck that will make appearances across Ontario and Alberta starting as early as tomorrow. The catch? The prices look straight out of the 2000s. Tristan Wheeler breaks it all down for us.

🏝️ ISLAND TIME
Did you know the world's largest island within a body of freshwater is none other than Ontario's Manitoulin Island? Nestled within Lake Huron, the island is 2,765 square kilometres of scenic hikes and beaches — the perfect place to explore over the course of a long weekend getaway. Madeline Forsyth details what we can expect to find on our next trip to Manitoulin Island.

🌲 BEAUTIFUL B.C.
CNN released a list of some of the world's most beautiful places earlier this month and the only Canadian location to crack the list was none other than Vancouver Island. The news giant actually called the area "Canada in miniature," and given the abundance of mountains, forests and coastlines, Sierra Riley says that description checks out. Here's what you'll find on Vancouver Island.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Recently retired three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt turns 34 years old today. Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu is 41. Reese Witherspoon is 47. Yellowstone tough guy Cole Hauser turns 48. Canadian figure skater Elvis Stojko is 51. Comedian Keegan-Michael Key is 52. Stranger Things villain Matthew Modine turns 64.

Bob Costas, the former voice of NBC Sports, is 71. British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and CNN's Wolf Blitzer both turn 75. The prolific author James Patterson is 76. William Shatner, 92, boldly goes where no man has gone before. The late French mime Marcel Marceau was born on this day 100 years ago.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the subscription that we'd love for you to share between your entire extended family.

Have a question or comment about today's edition? Let me know at andrew.potter@narcity.com or hit me up on Twitter if you'd prefer at @andrewjoepotter.

Have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow!