Taco Bell

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Taco Bell Corp.
Type	Subsidiary of Yum! Brands
Founded	Downey, California (March 21, 1962)
Headquarters	Irvine, California
Key people	Glen Bell (founder)
Industry	Quick Service Restaurants
Products	Tacos, burritos, and other Mexican-related fast food
Revenue	$1.8 billion USD (2005)
Employees	143,000
Slogan	Think outside the bun.
Website	tacobell.com

Taco Bell Corp., a fast-food restaurant chain, is a division of Yum! Brands, Inc. Taco Bell serves food items loosely based on Tex-Mex cuisine. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Taco Bell has locations in a large number of states and countries.

Contents 1 General operations 1.1 Australia 1.2 Asia 1.3 New Promotions 1.4 Results 2 History 2.1 Slogans 2.2 Mascots 2.3 Talking Sauce Packets 2.4 Lawsuit 2.5 Acquisitions 2.6 Boycott 3 Co-branding 4 Taco Bell Menu 4.1 Big Bell Value Menu 5 E. coli Outbreak 6 Notable employees 7 Media references and trivia 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] General operations

Taco Bell encourages its diners to "think outside the bun" by visiting its restaurants instead of hamburger-selling fast food chains such as McDonald's and Burger King. Previously, Taco Bell had a menu item called the "Bell Beefer" (bun, taco spiced beef, lettuce, cheese, and tomato). The product was never very popular and was eventually discontinued in the 1980's. The "Bell Beefer" (Originally called the "Chili Burger" and then the "Bell Burger") was also put into the Australian market as the "Big Bell" burger.

Smaller Taco Bell Express outlets, offering a reduced version of the menu, appear in malls, airport terminals, department stores, hotels, cafeterias, gas stations, and other locations. Some school lunch programs also offer Taco Bell items under the Taco Bell Express branding.

The Taco Bell name is also used under license by Kraft Foods, which offers a line of taco shells, spices, salsa, and other Mexican foods (including full meal kits) featuring the Taco Bell name in supermarkets nationwide.

As of 2005, there are 5,845 Taco Bell restaurants in United States, including 1,252 company-owned locations, 3,803 franchisees, and 790 licenses. There is a 3% drop in branches compared with 2001.^[1] Internationally there are 243 locations, 201 franchisees and 42 licensees, which adds up to growth of 2% since 2001.^[2]

Over the last several years, Yum! Brands, Inc. has been co-locating its various restaurant franchises (KFC, Long John Silver's, A&W, and Pizza Hut). Combined Taco Bell/KFC, Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Taco Bell/Long John Silver's Taco Bell/A&W Restaurants locations are common.

[edit] Australia

Taco Bell's Australian franchise launched circa 1999 with a handful of stores in Sydney. There were also outlets in shopping centre food courts, "piggybacking" off existing KFC or Pizza Hut shopfronts. The venture only had moderate success, and eventually some standalone Taco Bell restaurants were 'split' to offer KFC as well. The Taco Bell dog was used in commercials with promotions such as 99 cent tacos used to encourage customers to try the chain. However, Sydneysiders never really warmed to the concept of Mexican fast food and Taco Bell disappeared in December 2003. Old Taco Bell sites were rebranded as KFC or Pizza Hut. There are some Mexican fast food success stories in Australia, such as Melbourne's BBNT.

[edit] Asia

In 2003, Yum! Brands introduced the Taco Bell brand into People's Republic of China. The Chinese Taco Bell restaurants are not fast-food restaurants like other Taco Bell restaurants are. Instead, they are full-service restaurants called Taco Bell Grande that are more analogous to a Mexican grill in the United States. In addition to the usual taco and burritos, Taco Bell Grande also serves other Mexican cuisine like albóndigas (meatball soup), tomatillo grilled chicken, fajitas, and alcoholic drinks such as Margaritas. Currently the chain has three restaurants in China, two in Shenzhen and one in Shanghai.

In 2004, Taco Bell opened three restaurants in Manila, Philippines.

Currently there are a few KFC outlets in Singapore that also sell Taco Bell meals, for example, the "Hougang 2-in-1" KFC Taco Bell outlet in Heartland Mall, Hougang South, beside Kovan MRT Station along Upper Serangoon Road. However there are no restaurants selling only Taco Bell merchandise.

[edit] New Promotions

Taco Bell's newest item is its Steak Grilled Taquito, which is to become a permanent item on the Taco Bell menu. It comes on a 10" tortilla with steak and cheddar cheese, and then it is wrapped tightly, grilled, cut in two, and served with salsa, guacamole, or sour cream, although it contains significantly less of these ingredients than current favorite, the Steak Gordita. Its biggest exposure was during a Super Bowl spot featuring a couple of lions scoping out a camp of humans. This is only the beginning of Taco Bell's introductions in 2007, as it will be introducing a breakfast menu in the summer of 2007.

[edit] Results

• As of 2005 Taco Bell is the best-performing brand of Yum Brands, having USD1.8 billion sales for company-owned stores in the United States (compounded annual growth rate of 6% from 2001), and sales of USD4.4 billion for franchisees and licensees in the United States (compounded annual growth rate of 3% from 2001).

Taco Bell also has the largest sales per system unit in Yum!, having USD 1.17 million sales per system unit, excluding licensees.^[3]

[edit] History

The founder of Taco Bell, Glen Bell, started with a hot dog stand in San Bernardino, California in 1946. After experimenting with alternative food items, he opened three Taco-Tia (his initial attempts were named for his daughter) stands between 1954 and 1955, which he later sold to his partners. He then opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California on March 21, 1962.

The first Taco Bell franchise was sold in 1964 and the company went public in 1969. In 1978, Bell sold the chain to PepsiCo. The chain was spun off along with Pepsi's other fast food restaurant holdings as Tricon Global Restaurants in October 1997. Tricon became Yum! Brands, Inc. in May 2002.

The old Taco Bell logo was used from 1969 to 1999.

In the early-1990s, Taco Bell changed its menu due to pressure concerning the nutritional value of items labeled "Lite". It was believed the term lite was vague or possibly deceptive. Many of the items were dropped entirely from the menu; one such item was the "Taco Lite", a fried flour tortilla shell with lean beef, fat free sour cream, lettuce, reduced fat cheese and tomatoes. Some items were altered to change the nutritional values, such as the removal of black olives from the list of ingredients, in an effort to reduce sodium.

In early-1995, Taco Bell transformed the familiar rainbow logo, in favor of a simpler pink/purple combo logo in an effort to revitalize their almost 20 year old logo.

On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it to "the Taco Liberty Bell." Thousands of people who did not immediately get the April Fool's Day hoax protested.

In 2003, Costa Rican Taco Bell franchises temporarily marketed their tacos as "Tacos ticos", because for Costa Ricans, the word "taco" refers to what is known in Mexico as a flauta. ("Tico" and "Costarrican" are colloquial terms for natives of Costa Rica.)

In 2004, a local Taco Bell franchisee bought the naming rights to the former Boise State Pavilion in Boise, Idaho and renamed the stadium the Taco Bell Arena. [2]

In the summer of 2004, PepsiCo and Taco Bell introduced Mountain Dew Baja Blast. The tropical-lime flavored drink is exclusive to Taco Bell stores. Along with this, Taco Bell introduced its Mountain Dew Viva Variety! promotional campaign, where a sign shows three cups of Mountain Dew, one normal, one Code Red and one Baja Blast.

Added to the official menu in early-2006, the Crunchwrap Supreme is Taco Bell's latest permanent product. Their most recent "limited time only" item was the Ultimate Chalupa. It is a chalupa with chicken or steak, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, 3 cheese blend, and fiesta salsa. Newer items in some franchises are the Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme and the Nacho Crunch Grilled Stuft Burrito. The newest promotional item is the Zesty Nachos.

[edit] Slogans

• Taca-taca-taca-taca-taca-taca Taco Bell!
• Ooh! What a difference Taco Bell makes!
• Make a run for the border.
• Nothing ordinary about it.
• The Cure for the Common Meal.
• Cross the Border.
• Fetch that food!
• You can munch it! So good!
• Taste that food! Dong!
• Change Is Good.
• Want some?
• Yo quiero [I want] Taco Bell.
• All hail the Chicken Caesar!
• Spice up the night. (For the introduction of open Taco Bells at night)
• Good To Go (For the Crunchwrap Supreme)
• The Fourth Meal
• I'm Full! (For the Big Bell Value Menu)
• Is it hot in here?
• Opportunity doesn't knock on a door, it rings a bell (For employment brochure inside Taco Bell)
• Think outside the bun.

[edit] Mascots

Taco Bell has not had many mascots to this date. In 1995, they introduced two mascots to promote the Taco Bell kids' meal, Nacho and Dog. Nacho is a crazy cat who gets all his knowledge of the world by watching television and is obsessed with Mexican food. Dog is a dog who is more well-behaved than Nacho and gets all his knowledge of the world by reading books. They were dropped in mid-1997.

In September 1997, the Taco Bell chihuahua was introduced. He spoke the line in commercials for their wildly popular "Yo quiero Taco Bell" campaign. In the Spanish language, yo quiero means I want . The little dog's real name was "Gidget", but that was never publicized in the ad campaign. The character was voiced by comedian, and cartoon voice-over artist, Carlos Alazraqui of Reno 911! fame. By 1998, the Taco Bell chihuahua was known as the biggest commercial star on the planet, but his popularity had dropped significantly by 2000. As of the early-2000s, Taco Bell has gone away from the chihuahua and instead has promoted its value menu through "I'm Full!!" commercials and used "Think outside the bun" as its slogan. Gidget did, however, make a cameo in a 2002 Geico commercial where he met Geico's spokes-gecko. That commercial continued to air through 2004.

In 2005, a new campaign to advertise the Crunchwrap Supreme was created. The ad featured twentysomethings at a high tech gadget store meeting a techno geek who espoused the virtues of the Supreme and how it was made "Good to go". The slogan was pushed by an accompanying hand motion done by the actor in the advertisement. Another ad featuring the same actor and tagline was created and aired in 2006. The actor was dropped from the campaign and new ads introduced a family of three who continues to rag on their son, quoting he was "good to go get a job". Several variations of the ad aired using the tag line and hand motion from the first.[3]

In 2007, for their advertising for their new Taquitos, they introduced two talking male lions sitting a ways from two guys sitting around a table eating Taquitos. While the guys ate, the lions discussed the pronunciation of "carne asada" (referring to the steak in the taquitos) with a rolling R sound in order for it to sound "sexy."

[edit] Talking Sauce Packets

In the early 2000s, Taco Bell's hot sauce packets (Mild, Hot, and Fire) got a major makeover. The restaurant decided to implement a scheme that would make the condiments a conversation piece as well as an advertising ploy. For each style of sauce, there are one of 8-10 or more quotations supposedly from the packet. The quotes change regularly. Such Packet Quotes include:

• Live life one packet at a time.
• How many of these do you already have in your glove compartment?
• Be gentle.
• ...Heads.
• ...Tails.
• Willing to relocate.
• Why order a taco when you can ask it politely?
• Why order Nachos when they won't put it in the bag?

[edit] Lawsuit

A lawsuit filed in 1998 by Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks alleged Taco Bell failed to pay them for use of the Chihuahua character they created. The men alleged that Taco Bell had breached payment on a contract after they worked with the restaurant chain for a year to develop the talking Chihuahua for use in marketing. The talking Chihuahua became a hit with the first advertisement, in which the character bypasses a female Chihuahua for a Taco Bell taco and declares: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Taco Bell said it would appeal the verdict. The two men got $30.1 million, plus an addition of $11.4 million in interest.^[4]

[edit] Acquisitions

• In 1984, Taco Bell acquired Pup 'N' Taco.
• In 1986, Taco Bell acquired the Faux-Mex restaurant chain known as Zantigo, known for their Chilito, a chili-cheese burrito. The chilito was added to the Taco Bell menu. The name was later quietly changed to chili-cheese burrito after comedian Paul Rodriguez pointed out the negative connotations of the word chilito (a slang for penis) in Mexican Spanish dialect. [4]

[edit] Boycott

In 2001, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers organized a boycott of Taco Bell restaurants one year after presenting a petition to Yum! Brands Inc., principally demanding higher rates of pay and better conditions for workers on tomato farms in Florida that supply Taco Bell. In 2005, the company responded by meeting the workers' demands, resulting in the boycott being withdrawn. The efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the response of Yum! Brands Inc. to this have been applauded by former American president Jimmy Carter and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation.

[edit] Co-branding

Many Taco Bell Express brand outlets can be found in suburban strip malls, often adjacent to other Yum!-brand eateries, most notably Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Taco Bell/Pizza Hut combinations are frequently called "Taco Huts" and Taco Bell/KFC combinations have been referred to as "Taco Chickens". Similarly, Taco Bell/Long John Silver's combinations are colloquially referred to as "Taco Silvers"^{[citation needed]}.

Sometimes, Taco Bell occupies the same building as a Pizza Hut and a KFC. This threesome is generally known as a "KenTaco Hut", or sometimes a "Kentucky Fried Taco Hut". They also have been known to be called "K'Taco Hut"^{[citation needed]}.

Taco Bell also links itself with non-food organizations. In January, the Derry, NH based musical group So Many Numbers became the first private sponsored band by Taco Bell, performing a free show which drew in almost one hundred customers^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Taco Bell Menu

Taco Bell's menu is basically several combinations of the same ingredients, but each combination creates a unique taste. It features such things as the Mexican Pizza, Nachos Bellgrande, Nachos Supreme, Chicken/Steak/Cheese quesadillas, fried chalupas and grilled gorditas, Grilled Stuft Burritos(R), the Crunchwrap Supreme(R), and the new permanent item, the Steak Grilled Taquito, which can actually come with spicy chicken, beef, or regular chicken as well. Taco Bell's dessert options include the Caramel Apple Empanada and its Cinnamon Twists. Sides include nachos, pintos and cheese, and a cup of rice which comes with a double portion of rice, red sauce, cheese, and formerly green onion, though this ingredient is no longer carried after the E. coli scare.

[edit] Big Bell Value Menu

In the late-1980s, Taco Bell commonly advertised its "59, 79, 99" pricing plan, in which nearly everything on the menu was either 59, 79, or 99 cents.

Despite Taco Bell's relatively cheap per-item pricing, it never had a true value menu until the mid-2000s. The menu features several items generally priced below $1.49. The introduction of the value menu also brought new items to the restaurant's offerings, notably items made with potatoes and Taco Bell's third dessert, the Caramel Apple Empanada. (Cinnamon Crispas, triangular fried flour tortilla shells, were offered until being replaced by Cinnamon Twists.) The Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito recently replaced the Bean Burrito Especial, which was removed because of its small profit margin. Also of note is that half of the menu is not truly new, as Beef Combo Burritos, Cheesy Bean and Rice Burritos, Double Decker Tacos, and both Spicy Chicken items had been on the regular menu before, as permanent or limited time only items.

The Big Bell Value Menu includes:

• Grande Soft Taco: two 6" tortillas with nacho cheese in between, a double portion of beef, then lettuce and cheese
• Double Decker Taco: beans on a 6" tortilla wrapped around a crunchy taco with beef, lettuce, and cheese
• Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito: beans, rice, nacho cheese, 3-cheese blend, jalapeno sauce, and fiesta salsa
• Beef Combo Burrito: beans, a single portion of beef, red sauce, cheese, and onion
• Beef & Potato Burrito: beef, red sauce, potatoes, and sour cream (Taco Bell no longer serves green onions)
• Spicy Chicken Burrito: spicy chicken, rice, jalapeno sauce, and fiesta salsa
• Spicy Chicken Soft Taco: spicy chicken (1.5 oz), lettuce (.5 oz), fiesta salsa (.75 oz.)
• Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes: warm nacho cheese, cool sour cream, golden fried potatoes
• Caramel Apple Empanada: warm caramel sauce and apple chunks

[edit] E. coli Outbreak

In early December 2006, 62 confirmed cases of E. coli sickness were linked to Taco Bell locations, as investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [5] The reported cases originated in New Jersey (28}, New York (21), Pennsylvania (9), Delaware (2), South Carolina (1) and Utah (1). The locations linked to the outbreak were temporarily closed. In addition, all 14 locations in Delaware closed voluntarily. After closing, the stores disposed of their entire food supply in order to alleviate the potential for more spread. On December 10, it was reported that all restaurants were free of E. coli, and would reopen soon, though not all Taco Bell stores closed.

The E. coli was originally believed to be linked to contaminated scallions (a type of green onion) grown on a California farm. However, the FDA later concluded that the source of the contamination came from lettuce. This incident can be compared to the spinach E. coli outbreak of summer 2006. It is also similar to the Hepatitis A outbreak that was spread through green onions by the now-defunct Chi-Chi's chain of restaurants in fall 2003 ^[6]. However, it was reported on (December 12, 2006) that scallions were not found to be the source of the current outbreak.^[5] Curiously, Taco Bell removed green onions from its USA menus but still serves lettuce in most of its meals, although green onions were not the cause, and the lettuce was.

Four more suspected E. coli cases were reported in New Jersey on December 13 due to lettuce. One suspected E. coli case was reported in Kenwood, Ohio on March 12, 2007.

Taco Bell Canada has also removed green onions from its food supply, although no cases of E. coli have been found there. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada are monitoring the situation. [7]

In February 2007, a Taco Bell/KFC Restaurant in New York was shut down due to rat infestation. The event briefly made national news as video was shown of rats scurrying around the NYC restaurant.^[6]

[edit] Notable employees

• José Padilla, alleged supporter of terrorism
• Boyd Rice, noise music pioneer and Social Darwinist ("...when I was sixteen. Just long enough to cause enough trouble to get kicked out of there." Recounted in RE/Search No. 11: Pranks!.)
• Krist Novoselic, Nirvana bassist.
• Steve Smith, Wide Receiver for the Carolina Panthers NFL team.
• Kevin Sellers, vocalist of hardcore punk band The Outsiders
• John C. Dvorak, former TechTV personality and current This Week In Tech pundit, worked there while attending college.
• Tyler Spencer, aka "Dick Valentine" from Electric Six.
• Mike Kennerty, guitar player for the All-American Rejects
• David Barbe, recording engineer/producer (Played in Sugar, and Meryland, Produced Drive By Truckers, Son Volt, many others)
• Hulk Hogan, professional wrestler.
• Jason Lee, former skateborder and currently starring in My Name Is Earl

[edit] Media references and trivia

Main article: Taco Bell cultural references

These popular stores have appeared in media and music including Demolition Man, Austin Powers movies, Mean Girls, and White Chicks among others. The distinctive Taco Bell buildings are also featured in animated television shows Beavis & Butt-head, Family Guy, and Futurama. Musicians also satirize and sing the praises of Taco Bell; including Weird Al Yankovic, Electric Six, Primus, and even Supertramp. Juvenile (rapper) Mentioned on song Juvenile On Fire off The 400 Deggreez album "I Done fix these bitches house up and had em livin swell and yet still a nigga like me was eatin at Taco Bell".

[edit] See also

• Priszm Brandz
• Taco Bell chihuahua
• Enchirito

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site.
• (Chinese) Taco Bell Grande
• [8]
• Lessons In Taco Bell Trouble Newsday.com
• Family Files Suit Against Taco-Bell - Newsday.com
• Taco-Bell Sued By Sick Boy With E-Coli - FORBES
• Information from FDA