Louisville, KY — Yum! Brands incorporated, the parent company of several popular fast food brands has reported that sales are up over 724% in the past year in the key “user” states of Colorado and Washington. The company, which owns the Taco Bell and KFC restaurant chains, announced that it has expanded to over 14,123 new restaurants in Colorado alone in the past year.
“Our growth in Colorado and Washington has exceeded our projections by a wide margin,” said Yum! Brands communications director Bethany Millbright. “In fact, we’ve been able to expand our footprint so much, they we’ve disabled our restaurant locator service on our website and mobile application. Our customers don’t need the map anymore now that we’re on every other street corner.”
Taco Bell customers seem quite pleased with this rapid expansion.
“It used to take hours to get through the drive thru,” said one Taco Bell enthusiast and frequent patron Shaun Watson. “At least it seemed like it. The lines were out into the street. And everyone was taking forever to order. Like, forever. Now that there’s so many of them, it’s really fast. I think.”
Many critics of fast food maintain that the industry is not only bad for people in terms of health costs, but also bad for the environment as it encourages unsustainable farming practices as most, if not all, fast food supplies are produced at factory farms, where animals are subjected all kinds of unspeakable treatment. Adding to this, such large farms contribute to unnecessary pollution and greenhouse gas production.”
“There’s no question that the fast food industry is hastening the planet’s demise,” said University of Chicago Professor of Economics James Badwater. “The thing is, this food is not cheap on top of not being good for you or your environment. A meal at one of the restaurants is significantly more expensive than one can prepare at home, not to mention the long-term costs of healthcare and the external costs to the environment.”
When asked why Taco Bell and other fast food restaurants in Colorado are booming, Mr. Watson had this to say.
“I dunno. It tastes good and like, I can eat it in my car,” continued Mr. Watson. “I can’t cook and neither can my friends. [laughing] I haven’t been to the Supermarket in a long time. Not like I’d know what to buy anyway. It’s just easier to go through drive through where they take care of me.”
