11 Things You Didn’t Know About Taco Bell
Ah, Taco Bell. We at Thought Catalog can't get enough of your cheap and delicious items.
By 
Michael Koh
image – Flickr / mikebaird
1. Taco Bell tried to enter the Mexican fast food market.
And failed twice. But hey, this means MORE TACO BELL FOR US.
Taco Bell tried to market their product as “American” and that was a flop. They did, however, manage to get into the Chinese market, posing as a full-service restaurant, but that flopped too. Listen, Taco Bell, this means don’t change baby. Don’t. Ever. Change.
2. Doritos Locos Tacos added 15,000 new jobs.
It came in 2012 and has stayed since, selling about 500 million tacos in 14 months. That’s just about 1.1 million tacos a day. I’m probably guilty of about 10% of that number.
image – Flickr / zombieite
3. Demolition Man changed Taco Bell’s brand.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFiDoOgRTpk&w=584&h=390%5D
Taco Bell loved the branding in the movie so much, they changed it to that. And they’ve never looked back.
4. Yum! owns Taco Bell.
Glen Bell sold 868 Taco Bell restaurants and became a PepsiCo shareholder. Yum! Brands spun out of PepsiCo into an independent company. PepsiCo and Yum! Brands have a lifetime contract between the two. Taco Bell, among other notable fast food chains like KFC and Pizza Hut fall into the Yum! Brand.
image – Flickr / stevendepolo
5. The Taco Bell dog was actually female.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z82cqetJaHI&w=584&h=390%5D
Gidget the Chihuahua played the part and comic Carlos Alazraqui was the voice actor.
6. 50 Cent sued Taco Bell
And he won.
Taco Bell sent out joke letters using 50 Cent’s name, which the rapper didn’t take kindly to. All in the name of free publicity (but cost $4 million in the end for Taco Bell). But you know what, Taco Bell isn’t embarrassed. They did it for you.
image – Flickr / stevendepolo
7. Billy Mays was set to make a Taco Bell commercial!
But he died just before it could happen.
8. If a home team scores more than 100 points, you get a free chalupa.
Taco Bell stopped doing this in Portland, but you can still get a free chalupa in Cleveland.
9. Taco Bell wasn’t originally called Taco Bell.
It was Taco Tia and the tacos were 19 cents. In its first month, Glen Bell sold $18,000 worth of tacos.
10. Taco Bell will be the first national fast food chain to stop selling kids meals.
It’s about tacos, not toys. Sorry kids. This means more focus on meals and not some stupid plastic taco that you can’t eat.
11. Taco Bell meat is 88% beef.
Plus 3% water, 4% spices and 5% textural ingredients. And it tastes delicious.
And Taco Bell,
Sincerely,
Me. 
