Our Least Favorite Microwave Butter Popcorn Comes From A Popular Brand

You have no shortage of options if you go shopping for microwaveable popcorn. (Of course, you could just buy kernels and pop them yourself in a pot, although you'll have to be careful to ventilate it so the popcorn doesn't get too chewy and dense.) There's old reliable Orville Redenbacher, of course, bowtie and all; there's Pop Secret, with its Original and Movie Theater Butter formulations; and there's Newman's Own, the brand set up by that dashing blue-eyed actor Paul Newman for the benefit of his charity for children. 

And then, alas, there's Act II, a brand whose pop-ularity (pun intended) doesn't necessarily reflect its place in our good graces. In fact, according to our ranking of microwave popcorn brands, Act II came in dead last. That means it finished behind even store brands like 365 Whole Foods, Great Value, Target Market Pantry, and Kroger Movie Theater Butter Popcorn.

We were looking for microwave popcorns with rich, buttery flavor, and while we were satisfied by some (especially our number one favorite, Cousin Willie's Buttery Explosion Popcorn), Act II left us sorely disappointed. Although we were pleased with the texture, which was light yet nicely crunchy, we were shocked by the absolute lack of flavor on display. Says our writer: "It was so bland and flavorless that I had to double-check the package to make sure I hadn't accidentally picked up the plain variety. I could barely detect salt, let alone butter."

Mind you, plain popcorn is a healthy, tasty snack in its own right — we don't mean to talk smack about it. It's just that if you're going to pop a bag in the microwave, hit the "Popcorn" button that you possibly shouldn't be using in the first place, and wait a few minutes, you want to be rewarded with a hot, steamy explosion of buttery flavor. And this just isn't going to cut it, we're sorry, Act II. It's not you, it's...well, we guess it is you, actually.