Rescue California

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Taco Bell Poll Shows Californians Are Hungry For Schwarzenegger, Bustamante

August 26, 2003

Irvine, Calif., August 26, 2003 -Taco Bell Corp. announces the first installment of its Taco Poll results with former frontrunner Arnold Schwarzenegger leading with 54 percent of votes with his crunchy beef taco. The Grilled Stuft Burrito holds a strong second on the menu with 43 percent of votes for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante and the remaining 133 candidates; followed by Governor Gray Davis, represented by a chicken soft taco, with three percent. After overwhelming response from consumers to include Cruz in the Company’s in-store gubernatorial Taco Poll and strong support from national poll results, Taco Bell also announced Californians can now take a big bite out of Bustamante ... as a Chalupa.

Beginning last Thursday, consumers could visit more than 1,000 California restaurants to "put their vote where their mouth is" for their favorite gubernatorial candidate. Californians "bought votes" simply by purchasing selected Taco Bell menu items. A crunchy beef taco counts as one vote for Schwarzenegger, a soft chicken taco counts as a vote for not recalling Davis and any Grilled Stuft Burrito shows support for any of the other candidates. Now, starting today, consumers who want show support for Bustamante can choose the Chalupa.

“C"Californians are asking for Bustamante and we're delivering him - as a Chalupa," said Greg Creed, chief marketing officer, Taco Bell Corp. "We are very pleased with the Taco Poll voter turn out and we hope this level of participation carries through to the upcoming election."

Customers can "Think Outside The Bun" and vote at participating Taco Bell restaurants in California through the day before the official election. Voters can monitor the Taco Poll results, which are tallied and released weekly every Tuesday, online at www.tacobell.com. To ensure fairness to all candidates, products results will be calculated based on the incremental number of items sold.