Taco Bell Airlifts a Ton of Tacos Into Remote Alaskan Village

With the pungent, gut-grinding scents of Taco Bell wafting on the icy breeze and the bass-heavy beat of Pitbull soon to shake snow from the trees, rural Alaska is getting more like the Lower 48 every day. Last week, we learned that Pitbull is primed for an "exile" in Kodiak [1] thanks to a hijacked Facebook campaign. Now, we hear that the 6,000 or so residents of the equally obscure Alaskan community of Bethel, accessible only by river or air, were recently blessed by a Taco Bell promotion that saw 10,000 Doritos Locos Tacos (a total of 950 pounds of seasoned beef, 500 pounds of sour cream and 300 pounds each of lettuce and tomato) dropped from the sky like spicy manna from heaven. Actually, the food was flown in via military chopper and lowered to the ground in a branded truck. Seems the locals were bummed out after pranksters convinced them a Taco Bell store was opening in Bethel (it's not), and the chain—and its agency, Draftfcb Orange County—decided to cheer folks up. Judging from the clips, the effort was a big success, replacing, if only for a short time, the growling of Arctic bears [2] and groaning of icy winds with the rumblings of achy yet satisfied stomachs.