Taco Bell death: Fast food conspiracy?

Who is killing the great fast food giants of America? That was the question we asked back in 2008, after an astounding eight legends of the fast food industry were taken unexpectedly, one after another, in a succession that was obvious and disturbing to all but the most vehement conspiracy deniers-- and lazy, complacent, fast food-chomping journalists. So it's almost amusing that with the announcement yesterday of the death of Taco Bell founder Glen W. Bell (who knew that there was actually a guy named "Bell" behind Taco Bell?), a Tabloid Baby competitor would float the story that "he's at least the seventh fast food mogul to die at an extraordinarily old age in the past two years."

In fact, Glen W. Bell is at least the tenth fast food legend to die in recent years. And that's ten before we stopped counting.

We stopped counting the mysterious deaths of the ones who clogged our arteries, turned our children into butterballs and made Disneyland even more crowded more than a year ago. See, what we do is lay the groundwork for the paid journos to do their jobs and investigate. Then we move onto the next major story that the mainstream and even new media will pick up on two years later. In the case of Danny Gans, the paid pros of Las Vegas showed how conflict of interest and powerful forces in city can stop newshounds cold, but a story like this? we can take heart that Gawker at least picked up on the story we uncovered-- even though they didn't have the grace to attribute the legwork behind their "at least the seventh fast food mogul" snark (despite the tips our staff send their way each week).


The true body count? We go back to 2008:

Wilbur Hardee
founder of Hardee's (June 20).

Neil Baker
Baker's Drive-Thru and Taco Bell (May 31),

J.R. Simplot
king of the frozen french fries (May 25),

Irvine "Irv" Robbins
co-founder of Baskin-Robbins (May 5),

Herb Peterson
inventor of the Egg McMuffin (March 25),

Al Copeland
founder of Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken (March 23),

Lovie Yancie
founder of Fatburger (January 23),

Carl Karcher
founder of Carl’s Jr. (January 11),

Glen Bell was 86.


Troy Smith, the Oklahoma entrepreneur who built a drive-in in Shawnee, Oklahoma into the Sonic fast-food chain, died at 87 on October 26th.

And though we do not count franchise restaurant chains, Don Callender, credited with building Marie Callender’s into a Southern California pie and restaurant empire, died on January 6th, 2009.

And while you're at it:

A year ago, we were asking, "Who is killing the members of the Buena Vista Social Club?".

In 2006 we asked, "Who Is Killing The Great Blues Artist of America?"

Look it up.

Exclusive! Death of Hardee's founder is the eighth demise of a fast food legend this year. So far.

The story is simple:

Fast food pioneers and legends are dropping like flies on the grill in 2008.

Sooner or later, the mainstream media will be forced to catch on.

Wilbur Hardee, founder of the Hardees's chain, makes eight. Eight deaths of fast food moguls in the first six months of 2008. So far.

Today, we add Wilbur Hardee to the list of the dead:

Carl Karcher
founder of Carl’s Jr. (January 11);
Lovie Yancie
founder of Fatburger (January 23);
Al Copeland
founder of Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken (March 23);
Herb Peterson
inventor of the Egg McMuffin (March 25);
Irvine "Irv" Robbins
co-founder of Baskin-Robbins (May 5);
J.R. Simplot
king of the frozen french fries (May 25);
Neil Baker
Baker's Drive-Thru and Taco Bell (May 31)
Wilbur Hardee
founder of Hardee's (June 20)
???? ?????
???? (???? ??)

The list speaks for itself. No?

Hardee's first drive-in restaurant didn't have tables or carhops, but built a loyal following o who stopped in for 15-cent hamburgers cooked on a charcoal broiler. The menu also featured cheeseburgers for 20 cents, French fries, sodas, coffee and apple pie.

Today, there are 1,900 Hardee's across the Midwest and Southeast and in 200 international locations.

Hardee's Monster Thickburger contains 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat.

Wilbur Hardee died Friday of unspecified causes.

He was 84.

Still laughing? Seventh fast food giant found dead

Make that: Five months, seven deaths.

For close to half a year now, we've been keeping track of a very disturbing trend of deaths among giants in the fast food industry: for each page on the calendar, there is one less fast food innovator walking among us. Our report on the initial trio of fast food industry deaths in the first three months of 2008 was met with incredulity, even derision. Then, another and another and yet another pioneer was taken from us.

That would be six deaths in the first five calendar months of 2008:

Carl Carcher, founder of Carl’s Jr. (January 11);
Lovie Yancie, founder of Fatburger (January 23);
Al Copeland, founder of Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken (March 23);
Herb Peterson, inventor of the Egg McMuffin (March 25);
Irvine "Irv" Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins (May 5);
J.R. Simplot, king of the frozen french fries (May 25)...

But with the report today that another fast food king joined his colleagues at the great drive-thru in the sky on May 31st, the death toll and percentages increase.

Neil Baker was part of the first wave of fast-food pioneers linked by friendship and geography in and around San Bernardino, California. He helped his best friend build a hamburger stand in 1948 that would evolve into the Taco Bell chain. Their employees would start the Naugles and Der Wienerschnitzel chains. Baker started his own burger stand in 1952. It grew into Baker's Drive-Thru, a regional chain that made him a multimillionaire. The family still owns the 36-restaurant business today.

Baker died at his home.

He was 84.

A cause of death was not released.

Who killed J.R.? Another fast food giant dead!

Five months. Six deaths.

Tell us we’re “conspiracy nuts” now. After a strange “coincidental” trio of fast food chain founder's deaths in the first three months of 2008, we began to keep close tabs on the mortality rate in the controversial industry, only to be shocked by the sudden passings of one of its legends and another pioneer.

That would be five deaths in the first five calendar months of 2008:

Carl Carcher, founder of Carl’s Jr. (January 11);
Lovie Yancie, founder of Fatburger (January 23);
Al Copeland, founder of Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken (March 23);
Herb Peterson, inventor of the Egg McMuffin (March 25);
Irvine "Irv" Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins (May 5).

Today, we add another to the list.

J.R. Simplot, the billionaire king of the frozen French fried potato, supplier of fries to McDonald’s and other fast food chains-- the man whose product literally greased the skids for the rise of the fast food industry-- died on Sunday, May 25th.

The LA Times notes:

“Simplot's sale of frozen fries to McDonald's and other chains accelerated the growth of the fast-food industry and changed the nation's eating habits, according to Eric Schlosser, author of ‘Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal’ (2001).

"’Americans have long consumed more potatoes than any other food except dairy products and wheat flour,’ said Schlosser, who called Simplot ‘America's great potato baron.’”

Simplot drove around Idaho in a Lincoln Continental with the license plate “Mr. Spud.”

The coroner says he died of “natural causes.”

He was 99.

None dare call it conspiracy but we pointed it out: Another fast food giant found dead (5th this year)

We’d prayed that we were wrong, that it was only a fluke that in the first three months of 2008, three founders of popular fast food chains-- and the inventor of a fast food favorite--turned up dead in quick succession. And after keeping an eye on the obits and trades through a tense April and finding no further calamities, we were eager to close the book on yet another "coincidence."

But now it’s happened again.

Weeks after the death of Herb Peterson, inventor of the Egg McMuffin, and following the passings in rapid and unexplained succession of Carl Carcher of Carl’s Jr. (January 11); Lovie Yancie of Fatburger (January 23), and Popeye's Fanous Fried Chicken founder Al Copeland, (March 23) we learn that Irvine "Irv" Robbins, co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, has died in Rancho Mirage, California.

Robbins started up the Baskin-Robbins empire in 1947 with single shop in Glendale, California. His partner and brother-in-law, Burton Baskin (father of actor Richard Baskin, best known for his role in Nashville), died of a heart attack in 1967. He was only 54.

Baskin-Robbins has more than 5,800 shops— 2,800 in the United States.

Irvine Baskin was 90.

We return, regretfully, to the death watch.