This less than appetizing photograph of an unnamed Taco Bell employee licking a long stack of about twenty-five taco shells was posted onto the company’s Facebook page {link no longer active} over the weekend, igniting viral attention from social media users.
While the circumstances surrounding the public display of taco shell admiration are unclear Consumerist notes that it is possible the shells were destined for the trash, but it still may make customers think twice before buying their next Doritos Locos Taco.
Facebook user Jj O’Brien Nolan, whose relationship to the infamous Instagramed taco shell lover is unknown, posted the photo with the comment, “This sure says a lot about your employees.”
Since the event, Taco Bell has declined to say whether the employees who created the photo were fired or not but company spokesperson Rob Poetsch did tell the Huffington Post in an email that the company has “strict food handling procedures and zero tolerance for any violations.”
He continued with, “When we learned of the situation we immediately contacted this restaurant’s leadership and although we believe it is a prank and the food was not served to customers, we are conducting a full scale investigation and will be taking swift action against those involved.”
This is not the first time the fast food joint has had an employee post an unflattering image that went viral on social media. In August 2012, a different employee took to Twitter to post a photograph of himself urinating into a plate of nachos.
“I pissed on them where nobody could see, in private, an[d] I threw them away. There’s literally nothing they can do. Fire me. I don’t care,” the photo culprit, Cameron Jankowski, said.
Of course the company took him up on his offer and he was fired immediately.
How do you see this playing out for Taco Bell? Do you think the prank will harm sales or simply increase their Klout score with the massive social media attention?
Source: Mashable {link no longer active}
