As part of its new "Feed The Beat" program, Taco Bell has pledged $500 in free "Fourthmeals"—which Webster's Guide To Made-Up Corporate Buzzwords defines as "the late night meal between dinner and breakfast (see also: 'Why does my chest hurt?')"—to 50 "up-and-coming" bands to keep them "well fed and rocking their fans across America." The list of winners are mostly confined to mall-punk and emo groups we're far too elitist to admit that we've heard of, but there are a couple of big blog-friendly names that may surprise you (most of whom have been discussed here at one time or another) including Panthers, White Rabbits, Girl Talk, Enon, Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, Meg And Dia, and Blitzen Trapper. Most distressing of all, Taco Bell apparently found these acts after a "national audition," meaning someone from each of those camps actually mailed out a press kit in hopes that they would be the one to win—including vegan PETA mouthpiece Ted Leo, whom I guess will be very slowly burning his way through $500 in tostadas, hold the cheese. [Thanks to Idolator.]
UPDATE: Our fastidious fact-checkers in the comments have already put me to shame: Ted Leo says this is a prank that's been played on him, which actually makes this story about 10 times more interesting.