Taco Bell Banks on Free Samples : Food: Irvine-based chain gives away more than $12 million worth of its lower fat fare. Munchers generally support taste and texture.

To the uninitiated, Taco Bell’s massive food giveaway on Monday was proof that if a Burrito Supreme will fill you up, there is indeed such a thing as a free lunch.

For marketing experts, though, the decision to give away more than $12 million worth of food during a one-day promotion of its new low-fat products was a media-savvy extension of the industry’s age-old concept: Buy one, get one free.

“Sampling is the strongest form of promotion,” said Robert Sandelman, a Brea-based restaurant industry marketing consultant. “It’s a terrific promotion because it gets your product into someone’s hands--or in this case, into their mouth.”

Operating on the theory that one taste is worth a thousand words, Taco Bell on Monday gave away hundreds of thousands of low-fat tacos and burritos, ranging from 69-cent tacos to the Burrito Supreme at $1.59. The giveaway spotlighted the Border Lights product line that Taco Bell is counting on to reverse a sales decline at stores open for more than a year.

While giveaways aren’t new, Sandelman credited Taco Bell with breaking new ground: “I can’t remember anything this large in the restaurant industry. It’s very unusual to do something this big.”

An impromptu survey of a handful of Taco Bell locations in Santa Ana, Irvine and Newport Beach on Monday showed that customers were, indeed, snapping up free food. Nationwide, Taco Bell estimated that it would give away about 8 million individual products with a retail value of about $12 million.

Customers at the Taco Bell store on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach were served by John E. Martin, Taco Bell’s chairman, and dozens of other employees from the company’s corporate headquarters in Irvine. Customers generally supported the new, low-fat line that Martin anticipates will one day generate about 30% of Taco Bell’s sales.

“It tastes the same as the other kind,” said Christine Linnenburger, a Laguna Hills resident who snared a free lunch at the Taco Bell restaurant on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach. “I knew they were giving food for free, but I didn’t come here because of that.”

Newport Beach residents Richard and Gabrielle Wening were divided on the taste and texture of the new light line. He described it as “different but good” while she said the taste was “not as good as the regular.”

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Customers weren’t the only ones talking about the giveaway. Jay Leno took a playful swipe at Taco Bell’s Mexican-style fast food during a monologue last week, and talk show host Oprah Winfrey taped a session on dieting that features Taco Bell’s Border Light products.

Taco Bell executives kept on grinning despite Leno’s jab, said Chicago-based restaurant industry consultant Ron Paul, because “when it comes to building awareness, anything that calls attention to the chain is desirable.”

Taco Bell’s low-fat menu drew praise in February from several nutritionists, including health experts at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based outfit that earlier had blasted Mexican-style fast-food operators for their fat-heavy menus.

Taco Bell’s light taco, for example, has 140 calories and five fat grams, while the original version has 180 calories and 11 fat grams, according to information supplied by the company. Nutritionists said Taco Bell cut fat content by incorporating low- and no-fat cheese, low-fat tortillas, fat-free sour cream and leaner meat.

Marketing wizards long have recognized that the best way to entice consumers into buying a new product is to give them a sneak preview. Car dealerships offer test drives, detergent manufacturers bundle free samples with the Sunday newspaper and grocery stores entice shoppers with bite-sized bits of sausage or cheese.

“The minute people taste something, they know if it tastes good and if they’ll buy it,” said Sherrie Rosenblatt, a spokeswoman for the Food Marketing Institute in Washington. “Sampling is a great marketing technique.”

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Giveaways do occasionally backfire. Patrons grumble if popular items are in short supply or if they’re forced to wait in long lines. And, Paul said, there’s a solid chance that bad weather or conflicting schedules might keep target customers from attending giveaways.

There’s also a significant expense. Taco Bell spent $3.5 million in advertising the giveaway, in addition to the more than $12-million cost of the food. Sandelman predicted that the fast-food leader will willingly absorb the cost because “they’re going to get tons of publicity.”

“It’s a good marketing technique,” Paul said. “It’s no longer enough to say you’ve got good value. (The giveaway) cut through the clutter and got their name out there.”

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Taco Bell Slim

Taco Bell’s new Border Lights menu selections contain 55% less fat than their original menu counterparts and 22% fewer calories. Food and Drug Administration guidelines recommend a maximum of 65 grams of fat (20 grams of saturated fat) in a 2,000-calorie daily diet. How popular fast-food menu items compare: Taco Bell Original Menu:

Calories Fat* Saturated fat* % Calories from fat Taco 180 11 5.0 56 Taco salad 870 55 16.0 57

Taco Bell Border Lights:

Calories Fat* Saturated fat* % Calories from fat Taco 140 5 1.5 36 Taco salad 680 25 8.0 34

McDonald’s:

Calories Fat* Saturated fat* % Calories from fat Big Mac 490 27 9.0 49 McLean Deluxe 320 10 4.0 28

Burger King:

Calories Fat* Saturated fat* % Calories from fat Whopper 630 39 11.0 56 French fries 400 20 5.0 45

Wendy’s:

Calories Fat* Saturated fat* Single with everything 440 23 7.0 Broccoli/cheese potato 460 14 2.5

% Calories from fat Single with everything 45 Broccoli/cheese potato 26

* Grams

Source: Taco Bell, Weight Watchers

Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times