Gidget the Chihuahua, who achieved pop-culture immortality in the "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" ad campaigns run by the fast-food outlet in the 1990s, died of an apparent stroke in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Tuesday while watching television. She was 15.

US Weekly broke the news on Wednesday, quoting the dog's owner, Karen McElhatton, as saying Gidget "lived like a queen" and "had a great life."

Taco Bell is a unit of Yum! Brands Inc., whose stock shook off the bad news and rose 30 cents to $33.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gidget starred in Taco Bell ads for two years, beginning in late 1997. "She" became a "he" in the spots, which depicted the canine on a quest for Taco Bell fare. The tagline "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" (I want Taco Bell) passed into the lexicon, and Gidget became an instant celebrity. She showed up at movie premieres, on magazine covers, and even at the opening session of the New York Stock Exchange. A toy version sold briskly at Taco Bell's 6,000 outlets. But the $200 million ad campaign did not do much for Taco Bell sales, and the company dropped Gidget after complaints from franchisees.

In 2003, a federal jury in Michigan ordered Yum to pay $30.2 million to a pair of designers who alleged that Taco Bell advertising executives stole their idea for a character called "Psycho Chihuahua" after making a verbal agreement to use the men's design. Yum had countered that the talking Chihuahua was created by a former ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day.

Gidget had no offspring. She will be cremated.

If your favorite baseball team is not playing in this year’s World Series, please accept a free taco as a consolation prize.

For the second consecutive year, Major League Baseball sponsor Taco Bell is giving away millions of free tacos as part of its “Steal a base, steal a taco” campaign that offers free tacos after the first base is stolen in the World Series.

For four hours on Tuesday, the fast-food chain will hand out one free taco to every person who shows up at its U.S. restaurants.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett stole second base in the bottom of the fifth inning of Game 1 of the 2008 World Series, netting free tacos for people with time to stand in line. On Monday, heavy rains forced a suspension of Game 5.

This year’s series pits the Philadelphia Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays — a matchup that lacks the big name appeal of teams from Boston, Los Angeles, New York or Chicago.

Last fall, Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base in the bottom of the fourth inning of game 2.

(Photo: Taco Bell)

California Gov. (and “Terminator” star) Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed a law that would make the Golden State the first in the nation to require restaurants to post calorie counts and other nutrition information on menus.

The move from the nation’s most populous state is just the latest salvo in its war on obesity.

In July, California became the first state to ban artery-clogging trans fats in restaurant food. Last October, Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning artificial trans fats in food served at public schools.

The National Council of Chain Restaurants called California’s new menu labeling law “well intentioned” but said it would prefer a federal standard.

“What’s really needed is a consistent, uniform, nationwide standard so that consumers from Florida to Alaska have a clear understanding of the nutritional content of food in restaurants,” NCCR President Jack Whipple said in a statement.

Not to be outdone, Yum Brands Inc on Wednesday said its Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food outlets would begin putting calorie counts on menu boards in company-owned restaurants nation wide.

Le Pain Quotidien, a bakery and cafe that features organic ingredients, said its restaurants in Los Angeles rolled out new calorie-count menus on Monday. The chain’s New York City restaurants also post calorie counts, as is required by city law.

But some experts and consumers said nutritional information need to be reframed to be more helpful.

Adam Drewnowski, director of the nutritional sciences program at the University of Washington said consumer messages have become increasingly negative and that public health campaigns should focus on the total nutrient value of food.

A recent Nutrient Rich Foods Coalition-commissioned survey of 1,019 adults in the United States backed that view.

It showed that 61 percent of respondents were interested in learning about both the positive nutrients and the nutrients they should limit when they are trying to select healthy foods.

And, 78 percent of survey participants said they are looking for a simple, practical tool that would help them build a healthy diet based on getting the most nutrients from their food choices.

(Photos/Reuters, Yum)