Ellsworth Toohey really knew his stuff.

In THE FOUNTAINHEAD, Toohey confesses his methods for killing the sense of greatness in men:
"Don't deny the conception of greateness. Destroy it from within. The great is the rare, the difficult, the exceptional. Set up standards of achievement open to all, to the least, to the most inept-- and you stop the impetus to effort in all men, great or small. You stop all incentive to improvement, to excellence, to perfection. Laugh at Roark and hold Peter Keating as a great achievement...Don't set out to raze all shrines-you'll frighten men. Enshrine mediocrity....Kill by laughter. Kill reverence and you've killed the hero in man. One doesn't reverence with a giggle."

Fast forward to 2006, and witness Toohey in action in the latest Taco Bell ad. Two mountain climbers reach the summit of a mountain. "The Ultimate Pinnacle!" one cries in celebration. The other pulls out a Taco Bell bag and yells "Ultimate Chalupa!". A comical intereaction ensues and one falls off the top in pursuit of the chalupa. Ok, one could say that the second climber was actually doing well by climbing the mountain AND having the sense to bring a Chalupa, so it's ok to rub it in the other's face. But that would be missing the point. Like Toohey says, you don't raze the shrines-enshrine mediocrity next to the great achievement. Sorry, a chalupa just isn't that great an achievement, advertising hyperbole to the contrary.

Nothing against chalupas, personally. But does this ad seem just a bit tacky, especially in light of the recent news of the mountain climbing tragedy? But even without that situation, the advertisers have pulled a Toohey by proclaiming the Chalupa a greater achievement than mankind's hardest endeavors.

Ah, the power of advertising. One neck, ready for one leash...