SO MUCH FOR TACO BELL

Neil Boortz (scroll down) ^ | May 21, 2004 | Neil Boortz

[Eagle of Liberty]

SO MUCH FOR TACO BELL

I vote with my dollars. I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I don't appreciate Wal-Mart's disdain for the private property rights of American citizens. Now I'm adding Taco Bell to the list. No ... I'm not asking you to do the same. I'm just telling you what I'm going to do.

Taco Bell, you see, is asking customers for cute little sayings, "words of wisdom" they call it, to be printed on their little packets of hot sauce. Taco bell put out a little press release announcing the search for these "words of wisdom" and stating that the sayings should be simple and "left of center."

Now why would Taco Bell be pandering to the left like this? Could it possibly be because Taco Bell is the target of boycotts and demonstrations on college campuses across the nation? These know-it-all college students have some sort of a beef with the way Taco Bell treats tomato pickers. Well ... what better way to pander to the college know-it-all left wingers than to print little left-wing sayings on your hot sauce packets? And what better way to chase me away.

.... and your little dog too.

[birbear]

FYI: Taco Bell is owned by Pepsi Cola.

Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut used to be own by Pepsico. About four or five years ago, Pepsico spun off it's fast food business as a company called Tricon. About two years ago, Tricon changed it's name to Yum! Pepsi has exclusive softdrink rights with Yum! but no longer actually owns them. Yum! now includes brands such as A&W, Skippers, and others in addtion to the 3 mentioned above.

[newgeezer]

Likewise, I never said, nor did I mean to imply that I want to be involved in a petty flame war. ;O)

[LanPB01]

I'm not sure if I should send these in or not. There must be some way to say "AMERICAN IMPERIALIST DOGS" without offending anyone . . .

[WhiteGuy]

Boycotts are for liberals.

Well said.

I find it interesting that some folks will turn back flips to avoid purchasing from someone or even eating a certain type of food, yet find it quite fulfilling to commit their votes and their hard earned after tax income to some big spending tax waster of a candidate just because there is an (r) following the candidate's name.

Instead, I choose to focus my efforts toward the candidates who represent my desires for the operations of our government.

I will also eat whatever I want and buy from the most convenient merchant who sells what I need.

I really couldn't care less what is printed on sauce packets.

[kaktuskid]

Avoid Taco Bell because it tastes like dog food, not because of this dopey contest.

Del Taco is much better than Taco Hell!

[Wacka]

That is why in some places there are stores with the counter divided into KFC and Taco Bell sides.

[Fresh Wind]

Remember that great Taco Bell slogan: "Run for the bathroom"?

[zook]

"...why would TB want to alienate 1/2 of the country?"

Why indeed? Certainly there's a savvy American copy editor who could have easily edited the phrase. It seems he/she chose not to. Why?

[zook]

"You're obviously right, and I'm clueless. How utterly stupid of me. My bad."

I was tempted to post a similar response. Those who are convinced it's "nothing" need to argue better than they've done so far.

[zook]

"...people are looking to make trouble over something really silly."

I'm simply raising the question as to why a savvy copy editor would allow a manifestly divisive phrase to be included in the promo. I suspect it was either an act of false cleverness or true ignorance.

[Eagle of Liberty]

Hmmm...

No pic.

And don't call me Francis. :)

[SaveTheChief]

I'm simply raising the question as to why a savvy copy editor would allow a manifestly divisive phrase to be included in the promo. I suspect it was either an act of false cleverness or true ignorance.

I suppose the controversy here over "left of center" could have been avoided if the editor had made the change to something different. Here are some phrases and words that essentially mean what I believe was intended:

"Left field"
"Slightly askew"
"Quirky"
"Funny"

Nonetheless,"Left of Center" is the phrase they chose and it appears to have been enough to get the attention of some folks who have had enough of the leftist shift throughout the country. "

[Oatka]

Bingo!

It's like Chevy's sales pitch for their Nova that died in South America because "Nova" meant "Not go" in Spanish.

Probably they promoted one of their illegal burrito folders to a top marketing job and a linguistic faux pas came into play. "Off-beat" became "left of center".

I consider myself a Conservative but my skin is a bit thicker. The reactions here are foolish - save the outrage for meaningful stuff. There's plenty of that out there.

[Auntbee]

Well, color me stupid!!

[discostu]

Not stupid, just trusting.

[Auntbee]

Not stupid, just trusting.

Okay, I can live with that!!

[I'm ALL Right!]

Taco Bell= Taco H*LL. Taco Bueno is much better, and just as economical....of course, if you don't live in OK or Texas you're probably out of luck.

[Sloth]

Here are some pages using the expression "left of center" to mean offbeat or outside the mainstream:

http://www.backwash.com/content.php?jouid=2946

http://www.bookfinder.us/review6/076073979X.html

http://www.tennessean.com/entertainment/movies/archives/03/03/30145151.shtml

http://www.jacopastorius.com/interact/discussions/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=149&whichpage=3

http://dvd-shop.yellowpages.pl/1552R10P4673_The-Happiness-of-the-Katakuris.html

http://www.aboutfilm.com/movies/g/ghostworld.htm

http://www.gamingreport.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=56

But I suppose the Evil Taco Bell Communist Conspiracy just put those sites up to cover their tracks!

[RobRoy]

"Dog food...it's not just for breakfast burritos anymore."

You're closer than you think:

An acquaintance used to work as a computer programmer for a very large meat packing business in the Midwest. As is always the custom for large companies who employ computer people, he got to tour the plant. When I worked at Boeing, I got to see where they make 737’s as well as a couple of parts facilities.

Well, while touring the plant he was able to see all the ways the cow and carcass were used. The interesting thing was what they did with the leftover carcass when everything had pretty much been gleaned off. What they did was but all this stuff into a huge vat of water and boiled it until it became this gray, chunky, liquid mass. They then ran it through a centrifuge to get rid of all the water and ground it up into a gray paste.

This is where it gets interesting. There was a conveyor belt at the end of this process with 1 ½ foot square cardboard boxes with a plastic bag liner slowly moving by the “output tube” of this gray slop. On each box was stamped the word “Purina.” So now you know what “meat and meat by-products” actually means.

So anyway, he’s watching the boxes go by, stop, and get a load of gray stuff when suddenly the line stops. Someone fiddles with the box labeler and the line starts again. As the new boxes come down the line to accept their glop, he notices the label has been changed. Where they used to say Purina, they now say “Taco Bell.”

I’m sure it won’t hurt you, but it sure doesn’t whet my appetite.

[Oatka]

If Neil wanted something to complain about, he should have used Taco Bell's promo "Why is Hispanic heritage important to everyone?".

The winner gets $1,000 for 500 words.

Now why the Hell didn't they say ""Why is AMERICAN heritage important to every IMMIGRANT?"

You can call 'em at 1-800-TACO-BELL (8226-2355) to give 'em your sympathy over this "left of center" tempest in a teapot and give 'em your opinion on whose heritage is more important in the U.S.