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Quick: What contains 950 pounds of beef, 500 pounds of sour cream, 300 pounds of tomatoes and lettuce, and 150 pounds of cheddar cheese?  If you guessed a fourth meal at Shaq's place, you might be right, but the actual answer is a fully-loaded delivery truck airlifted to Bethel, Alaska! Odd, yes, but a money-maker for Taco Bell as it releases as new menu this week.

It seems the residents of Bethel were hoodwinked by flyers advertising the opening of a Taco Bell franchise in their remote town of 6,200. So delighted were they at the news that the letdown caused by the realization that they'd been punk'd threatened the sanity of the entire place...enter Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, California. People there decided to compensate the residents of Bethel by taking a delivery truck via helicopter to Alaska in order to deliver 10,000 Doritos Locos tacos, almost two tacos per person With the nearest Taco Bell 400 miles away in Anchorage, the story got big play, and Taco Bell got mucho ad spike. The cost was not such a big deal, either, when one considers that, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Taco Bell's income for the first quarter of this year was $458 million...an increase of 73%!

Not coincidentally, one would think, is the fact that Operation Alaska was launched just ahead of the new Cantina Bell menu, set to roll out this Thursday nationwide: a menu that will feature all sorts of fresh, almost gourmet items. Prices are said to be less than $5 for anything on the new menu.

I just hope they don't replace the sporks with real silverware. I'd have to take my business to Taco John's.