Who Cares If It's Real Beef When Taco Bell's Tacos Are Free?

By José Ralat Maldonado Thu., Feb. 10 2011 at 5:28 PM

Categories: Taco Trail

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Thirty-six percent. Eighty-eight percent. One hundred percent. Seriously, does the composition really matter when the food is free? Taco Bell and its millions of Facebook fans don't think so.

To follow-up the full-page ads and videos in response to a class-action lawsuit that claims the beef in its tacos is only 36 percent beef, Taco Bell is offering Facebook fans a free taco. According to the company, the meat used by Taco Bell is 88 percent beef. So there. That's better, right? You'll eat kinda-meat for free, right?

The only thing people have to do to partake in the "World's Largest Taco Giveaway" is "Like" Taco Bell, the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain, on its social-networking site page (www.facebook.com/tacobell).

The way Taco Bell spokesperson Rob Poetsch puts it, the promotion is a benign thing, unrelated to the recent kerfuffle. "The idea behind the Free Taco Giveaway was simple: to thank our Facebook community for their support. These are our biggest fans, and we appreciate their loyalty. Ideally, we'd love to see everyone who "likes" the Taco Bell page and a friend get their free taco."

Whatever the reason, the promotion ends on February 15 -- just in time to show your sweetheart how much she means to you by actually paying for her Taco Bell on Valentine's Day.

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