Debbie Schlussel: Attention, Food Police: Look What Taco Bell is Doing
Taco Bell had better watch out for the food police.
The fast food chain is offering the "Big Bell Box Meal" for $4.99. For that, you get a Bacon Club Chalupa, Beef Crunchy Taco, Bean Burrito, Cinnamon Twists, and a large drink. "Eat Like a Man," is the slogan for the new meal.
But "whine like a liberal statist" might be another suitable slogan. That's because every time a fast food restaurant comes out with a supersized economical offering like this, the PC food police come out in full force, with their calorie scales and fat calipers.
We haven't heard from the Center for the Study of Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in a while, and these food geeks are dying for an opportunity like this to speak out on the dangers of food and eating to human survival.
And then there's Morgan Spurlock. With his "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?" outbombing all the IEDs in Iraq and only earning about $300,000 in its first two weeks, he might be tempted to try to lie about the fast food chain like he did about McDonald's.
The fact is, despite the whining by upper middle-class food nannies, Americans like these high calorie meals. That's why fast food chains keep offering them up.
I'm not saying obesity isn't a problem in America. It is, and it's growing and, er . . . expanding. But food offerings like the Big Bell Box Meal aren't what makes Americans fat. Laziness and lack of discipline is. No-one's putting a gun to Taco Bell's head to offer these meals. Fast food chains offer these supersized meals as a convenience and way to offer up an economically sound big meal in an economically tough time.
The marketplace works. Leave it to the food police to whine and try to stop it.
But Taco Bell makes clear that this is "a meal that's made for men," not for Spurlock.
Posted by Debbie on May 5, 2008 12:59 PM to Debbie Schlussel