Taco Bell is a fast-food restaurant chain which is a division of Yum! Brands, Inc. It originated as a hot dog stand founded by Glen Bell in 1946. After experimenting with alternative food items, he opened three Taco-Tia stands between 1954 and 1955. He then sold the businesses to his partners and opened the first Taco Bell in
1962. In 1978, Bell sold the chain to Pepsi. The chain was spun off along with Pepsi's other restaurant holdings in 1997.
Taco Bell serves items based on Mexican cuisine, as adapted to the needs of the fast-food industry. Taco Bell's cuisine is Mexican-inspired American food, or Tex-Mex cuisine.
It is headquartered in Irvine, California.
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 1998, it introduced the Taco Bell chihuahua, who spoke the line in commercials for their wildly popular "Yo quiero Taco Bell" campaign. In the Spanish language, yo quiero means I want (or love).
However, recently in the 21st Century, Taco Bell has gone away from the chihuahua and instead has promoted its value menu through "I'm Full!!" commercials.
Taco Bell encourages its diners to "think outside the bun", a reference to its bypassing the efforts and popularity wars of such hamburger-selling fast food chains as McDonald's and Burger King through the tortilla instead of the bun.
Recently, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (based in Immokalee, Florida) has made allegations that Taco Bell is complicit in unfair labor practices of Florida tomato growers. The CIW organized a boycott of Taco Bell's products. These issues were resolved on March 9, 2005, when Taco Bell agreed to the farmers' demand that the company pay a penny-per-pound surcharge for tomatoes.
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 places.
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Last updated: 10-16-2005 04:40:14
