A funny story in the International Herald Tribune points out that Taco Bell, after taking their gringo tacos back across the border in shame in 1992, is now trying again in Mexico. This time, they're not trying to pretend to be a taqueria like in the past, and have even started calling their 'tacos' by the new name "tacostadas", part of their long tradition of making up bizarre names for their 'food'. An excerpt from the article:
Taco Bell has taken pains to say that it's not trying to masquerade as a Mexican tradition.
"One look alone is enough to tell that Taco Bell is not a 'taqueria'," the company said in a half-page newspaper ad. "It is a new fast-food alternative that does not pretend to be Mexican food."
Can they do this in the US as well? It would be a nice clarification. In any case, the reaction so far hasn't been all that encouraging for Taco Bell's owners, YUM brands:
It's still a mixed message for Mexicans like Marco Fragoso, a 39-year-old office worker sitting down for lunch at a traditional taqueria in Mexico City, because the U.S. chain uses traditional Mexican names for its burritos, gorditas, and chalupas.
"They're not tacos," Fragoso said. "They're folded tostadas. They're very ugly."
In other Taco Bell news (of which I promise there won't be much of, ever, here) Wikipedia clues us in the fact that the most recent Taco Bell Logo has a satanic 666 message hidden in it.
Image credit: LostAmerica, who rules.
