Taco Bell's latest World Series promotion is just one example of how the company is thinking outside the box. As this Advertising Age article points out, Taco Bell hit a PR homerun with its promise to give away a free taco to everyone in the U.S. if a base was stolen in the World Series. In the series' second game, Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox accomplished the feat for taco lovers across the country by stealing second base in the bottom of the fourth inning. Last year, Taco Bell tied the same promotion idea to a left-field homerun, which never happened. So, this year the company looked for something more probable. "Every year we're looking for a way to raise the bar," said Taco Bell spokesman Will Bortz. "We started playing around with parts of the game where it would be natural to insert ourselves in and we started looking at stolen bases."

Overall, the promotion should end up being a good deal for the taco giant. Bortz said the chain is expecting "millions of Americans" to take advantage of the free taco deal today, when people can show up between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. for their free snack. Experts estimate the overall cost for Taco Bell's advertising was about $5.6 million, and expect their potential giveaway cost to be less than $1 million. But keep in mind taco lovers will have to buy a soft drink to go along with their crunchy taco, and you can bet the Bell will think of other ways to make the most of the long lines.