In 2012, feuding pranksters papered the town of Bethel, Alaska, with flyers and banners advertising the arrival of Taco Bell — what would have been a milestone for residents, given the fact that the only fast-food restaurant in town was a Subway. Police say the flyers advertising the new restaurant opening included the phone number of the rival pranksters as the intended target in the elaborate hoax. What began as a feud between two groups of pranksters morphed into a full-fledged PR marketing opportunity, when Taco Bell deployed a helicopter from Anchorage to airlift in a truck full of tacos to Bethel — population 6,200. Throngs of residents watched from the sidelines as a full-sized truck harnessed to a chopper was dropped gently into a community center parking lot. As soon as the all-clear was given, thousands of people rushed the truck and gorged on the chain’s wildly popular Doritos Locos Tacos.
