Healthy eating is message from Taco Bell, KFC parent: Yum, what?

It's right there in the stock symbol: for Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), parent of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, is all about good taste. None of the food conglomerates' brands have ever been widely recognized for their healthfulness; in fact, it's safe to say that consumers passionate about healthy eating consider the entire suite of fast-service restaurants dens of iniquity.

Yum is trying to change all that. No, not by making any of the restaurants' foods more healthy, but by targeting consumers who are looking to lose weight with its new Keep It Balanced web site. The site shows laughing, gorgeous, healthy consumers holding chalupas and sodas, while exhorting weight-conscious readers to "Keep a record of what you eat and drink" and "Be Patient!" while ordering sauce on the side at Taco Bell and (seriously?) removing the skin and breading from your KFC fried chicken. Meanwhile shadowy figures dance around the corners of the site's frames in moves reminiscent of Tai Chi; a discipline that I would be willing to bet 90% of the company's consumers don't practice and, likely, consider ridiculous.

The message: our food is so totally unhealthy, but you can make it healthy by picking off all the tasty bits. Then you'll be free to head to martial arts training with a clear conscience. Brilliant. Or, perhaps, absolutely unbrilliant and obviously meant only to pay lip service to criticism that the company's foods are contributing to our nation's decidedly unhealthy relationship with food, a half-hearted effort to associate its brands with the "diet season" of January. In my estimation, the site is a waste of marketing dollars and, as long as you're not an investor, laughable.