Where’s the beef?

When fast-food chains have faced lawsuits over the quality of their grub, the standard tactic has been to lawyer up and shut up while the case was before the courts. But Taco Bell has taken the battle to the court of public opinion first.

Recently, an Alabama law firm put Taco Bell”s “meat mixture” through lab tests and claimed it found just 35 per cent beef. It then launched a class-action suit over false advertising. The case went viral—”Where”s the beef?” everyone wanted to know. Right where we said it was, the company shot back in a humorous ad campaign. Under the headline “Thank you for suing us,” the chain says its meat is 88 per cent ground beef. The other 12 per cent of ingredients are added because “plain ground beef tastes boring.” Never mind the optics of a restaurant arguing over the percentage of “food” in its meals. Next up, back to the legal courts with a countersuit.