SO MUCH FOR TACO BELL

Yeah, right.

Heh, heh. It's second hand. Interpret as you see fit. 8^>

It is sincere, however...

Keep in mind that Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Foods, also owns KFC, Long John Silvers, A&W and Pizza Hut...

A couple of those links appeared not to include the phrase at all. A couple others did suggest a political connotation.

You've found a handful of cases. Shall we list those in which the phrase is used in its political sense?

I'm a well-read person, very much into pop culture and language. I have to tell you--I'd not encountered the non-political use of this phrase until today.

Is this why my local Taco Bell went under, to be replaced by a Tasti-Freeze?

This was not intended to be political - so I'm not boycottin'.

I've loved Toxic Hell since college cause it's cheap and it tastes good.

From Amy Ridenour at the National Center for Public Policy Research (parent organization of Project 21):

I Prefer My Sauce Nonpolitical, Thank You Very Much

Something odd is going on over at Taco Bell. Maybe it is a joke by a Taco Bell employee who needs to be replaced. Or maybe the corporation is disfunctional.

I know one thing: I'm not putting any of my kids' college savings into their parent company's stock unless there is a reasonable explanation.

Here's the background. Alerted by the Ramblings' Journal blog, run by Project 21 member Michael King, who received a pointer from talk radio's incomparable Neal Boortz, I visited the TacoBell.com website.

There the company informs the public that it is sponsoring a contest to find humorous sayings it can print on sauce packages. According to the main website and a May 19 Taco Bell press release, the solicited sayings must meet four requirements. They must be: simple, left of center, provide insight on the little things in life, and not exceed 70 characters.

Left of center?

Odd point number one is that a company with the customer base of Taco Bell (and its fellow subsidiaries of corporate parent Yum! Brands, Inc., which are KFC, Long John Silvers, A&W and Pizza Hut) would decide that its sauce packets are the place for left-wing political statements. Odd point number two is that the company would issue a press release alerting a nation that is 41 percent conservative that they are part of the vast left-wing conspiracy.

Odd point number three, though, is that the sample sayings Taco Bell provides aren't political at all (examples: "My other taco is a Chalupa," "Polly want a taco?"). So that raises the possibility that at least some significant personages at Taco Bell don't actually know what the phrase "left of center" means.

I telephoned Taco Bell for the scoop. That's a crusade in itself! The phone numbers one can glean from the website don't reach human operators. I tried the phone number for people who have a million dollars to invest as new Taco Bell franchisees, figuring that line at least would reach a live person. No such luck -- it just rings unanswered. The parent company's website wasn't helpful, either. Finally I got the idea to check the parent company's required filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, figuring they probably do share their phone number with the SEC. Yes! I downloaded their last filing, and found a phone number in it. Voila! A human answered and I was transferred to Yum! Brands' public relations, which in turn gave me the phone number for the Taco Bell press office.

I have not quite hit the informational jackpot, however, as the Taco Bell press office said it would have to call me back.

So there it sits. Are Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silvers, A&W and Pizza Hut about to face a massive boycott (it won't be necessary to organize one; if Yum! Brands has decided to shill for the left its own sauce packets will spread the word enough to get a boycott going), or is the corporation simply a victim of a mischievous or ignorant employee who desperately needs more oversight?

Or maybe I am the ignorant one. Does "left of center" mean something non-political, when one is speaking of sauce?

I told Taco Bell's press person that I do not have a firm deadline for my opinion writing, but that I hoped to be able to hear back from them today. The ball is now in their court. Watch this blog for more details. If they call back, I'll share what they say. If they don't, I'll call them again.

This was not intended to be political - so I'm not boycottin'.

You don't think so?

Yeah. Right.

ROTFLMAO

How about: Every time you eat at Taco Bell, God kills a kitten.

I think people are overreacting to this, but I can't stop wondering why Taco Bell didn't say something like "Off-kilter" or "outside the lines" instead of "left of center."

Based on an earlier post in this thread (Post 20 by Khurkris) and the samples they provided, I'd have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

C'mon, why does it seem people have to be so friggin' hypersensitive over things? To assume this is political is quite a leap based on what I have seen so far about this.

Yeah, Pepsi Corporation is a bunch of homo-lovin' college educated elitist appeasers.

TACO BELL HATES AMERICA

I'd have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

They've been challenged to explain their intent.

I'll wait until I hear their response before I decide to "not eat there" any more.

Taco Bell has explained what they mean. Read the end of this post on the Ridenour blog to see what the Taco bell press rep said today.

Of course it does. HEY FREEPERS.. You guys are mighty sensitive lately!

My contribution is "There are NO boogers in your burrito".

There ARE on my keyboard...now. Mixed with the Sprite that came shooting out my nose. You owe me.

Hmmm...shows up when I view the post. Check yer cookies I guess. I am far from being a techno-geek. But it was a smiling kitten.

Framkie Says Relax