Taco Bell® First Ever 'Avatarsment' to Debut During the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards

Company, in Partnership with Gizmoz and MTV, Announces Winners of Taco Bell TV Me! Contest to Star as Digital Celebrities for Fourthmeal Commercial

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This year's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) is all about firsts: first time to be held in Las Vegas, first time being produced by a noted musician, and Taco Bell's first ever 'avatarsment."

Taco Bell® has chosen three lucky fans to star as virtual actors in an ad for Fourthmeal - the late night meal between dinner and breakfast - set to debut worldwide during the 2007 MTV VMAs on September 9, 2007. The winners were chosen as part of Taco Bell's TV Me! contest, in partnership with Gizmoz and MTV. In less than two weeks, consumers created more than 17,000 Gizmoz clips, which were viewed more than 920,000 times.

"We wanted to put that Taco Bell 'think outside the bun' twist on the consumer-generated campaign and knew that using Gizmoz' 3D animated talking avatar service was the way to accomplish that," said David Ovens, Chief Marketing Officer, Taco Bell Corp. "Our customers are always creating content online, so it was natural for us to bring this opportunity to them with MTV and Gizmoz."

"We want to congratulate everyone who participated in the TV Me! campaign," said Eyal Gever, founder and chief executive officer of Gizmoz. "It was very exciting to watch thousands of consumers express themselves in their own personal style and voice by using Gizmoz' life-like animated characters. Consumers on average spent more than nine minutes creating, viewing and rating auditions, underscoring the campaign's engaging and interactive appeal."

Hunter Larson from Virginia Beach, Va., Obinna Odumodu from Huntsville, Ala., and Mallory Anderson from Weston, Fla. are the three lucky winners of the contest, which was launched in early July. Their creative use of the photorealistic avatars on Gizmoz.com, coupled with overall appeal and originality, earned each of the 3D animated talking actors 30-seconds of fame during MTV's highest rated music awards show. Following the debut on the VMA's, the winning auditions can be viewed on www.tacobell.com < http://www.tacobell.com/ > .

"This is a novel approach to creating a commercial using avatars and partnering with MTV and Gizmoz," said winner Hunter Larson. "It's a great way to get fans involved and I feel a sense of closeness to Taco Bell because I helped create the commercial."

Using Gizmoz.com's photorealistic avatars, consumers were asked to audition for the Taco Bell® TV Me! search by simply uploading a digital photograph. In less than a minute, their 3D lifelike head and personalized body was automatically created. Consumers could also use a microphone to record their own voice for their 15-second, lip-synched audition. Auditions were judged on personality, originality, overall appeal and ability to express oneself.

The TV Me! Promotion, a creation of Draftfcb in Orange County, marks Taco Bell's first entry into leveraging consumer-generated media advertisements. Draftfcb created the final TV spot and added the winning avatars into the "World Stops for Fourthmeal" environment. The 15-second "World Stops for Fourthmeal" spot will run first, followed by the debut of the new spot that includes the three winners.

About Taco Bell

Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE:YUM), is based in Irvine, California and is the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain. Taco Bell® serves tacos, burritos, signature Quesadillas, Grilled Stuft Burritos, nachos and other specialty items such as the Crunchwrap Supreme®, in addition to a wide variety of Big Bell Value Menu® items. Taco Bell serves more than 36.8 million customers each week in nearly 5,600 restaurants in the U.S. "Think Outside the Bun®" and visit www.tacobell.com < http://www.tacobell.com/ > .

About Gizmoz

Founded in 2003, Gizmoz offers consumers a new generation of character-based visual expression for use across their digital lives. The Gizmoz service makes it easy to create, customize, animate and share photorealistic 3D talking characters and videos that allow consumers to communicate and express themselves in more realistic and imaginative ways. Gizmoz is funded by Benchmark Capital, Columbia Capital and Jagen, with offices in Menlo Park, CA and Israel. For more information, visit www.gizmoz.com < http://www.gizmoz.com/ >.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 130 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 200 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services. The network also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.