Comments on: Beasley Allen drops Taco Bell beef suit

By: Jerryskids

Jerryskids — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:56:49 +0000

The thing that annoyed me most about this lawsuit was the fact that in all the many news reports on it I kept seeing the same phrasing over and over which suggested to me that Beasley Allen had issued a press release which virtually every news outlet had simply done a little copy-and-paste work on and then released as a news report.

The claims made in these “news reports” were literally so incredible that I had to spend nearly 5 whole minutes actually checking into the story to figure out that the whole thing was nonsense. It says something about the state of news reporting that so many reporters so obviously spent less than 5 minutes actually investigating what it was they were reporting on.

Just start with the simple fact that most of them were careful to mention that the plaintiff was not asking for any money. Lawyers suing but not asking for money? Would you also believe a press release announcing that the Pope is converting to Judaism? It says right in the filing that they are asking for money.

And then consider that Taco Bell was accused of breaking Federal laws on food labeling and yet the Federal government itself was not busy suing Taco Bell. Wouldn’t that be a much bigger news story, the investigation into how it is that Taco Bell can get away with such criminal activity?

Add to that the fact that reading the story made it clear that Taco Bell was being sued for misrepresenting what they sold as beef so much so that Taco Bell did not even call it beef, and it is pretty clear that very few reports on this story actually involved any “reporting” in the sense of any actual work being done on the story.

By: Jason Barney

Jason Barney — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:34:15 +0000

Ron,

It sounds like you just made a great argument for loser pays!

By: Ron Miller

Ron Miller — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:20:23 +0000

“Note this, defendants.”

Yes, they absolutely should. If a claim is garbage, this is a great strategy. Conversely, if you hurt someone and you screwed up, could you just cop to it and compensate the victims without making them jump through 1000 hoops?

By: Rliyen

Rliyen — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:32:55 +0000

I heard this yesterday and it warmed the cockles of my heart. To add insult to injury, the wife and my son wanted Taco Bell last night (which I gave up for Lent, along with all fast food) and they got it.

Sunday can’t come soon enough.

By: Bill Alexander

Bill Alexander — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:05:42 +0000

Say anything you want, just spell the name right.

By: Anonymous Attorney

Anonymous Attorney — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:33:50 +0000

Note that this was the first instance in which a big corporate defendant actually hit back. They hit back big, with media blitzing, and there was even some humor worked in there. They turned the tables on the plaintiffs. And it worked.

Instead of taking a dour, hide-in-the-basement, close-mouthed, stiff-collar official-type response.

Note this, defendants.