Yum! Analysts and investors alike eagerly gobbled up the first quarter earnings surprise for Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), sending the stock up 6%, to $66.91 as of late afternoon, an increase of $3.79. The shares were briefly over $69, an all-time high for the company. The 70 cents-per-share profit was a 14% increase from the year-ago quarter and six cents ahead of analyst consensus.

The favorable results are even more of a surprise given that Yum! has taken several hits with its brands this year, from a rat infestation at a combined Taco Bell/KFC restaurant in New York to a lawsuit over the E-coli outbreak of Q4 2006, and has yet to discover any benefit from the removal of trans fat at its KFC restaurants.

Despite all the world's concentration on the obesity epidemic, the rise in popularity of organic foods, and the general frowning-upon marketing of fast food and other unhealthy choices to children; it seems like a great time to be the owner of some fast food stock.

[Photo kanepsphotography.]

You can fry anything, say the Texans I know. And indeed, much of my favorite food lore is fried things from the state and county fairs of the South and Midwest. There are the ever-infamous fried Snickers bars. Deep-fried macaroni and cheese. Deep-fried strawberries. Most favorite of the moment, though, is deep-fried Coke.

After hitting Texas state fairs this September, deep-fried Coke won the "most creative" title in Dallas. And it does sound creative, although I'm still a little confused as to what it is. MSNBC calls it a "gelatinous cola-infused snack" and Matt Corbin has a detailed photo essay on flickr that shows the truth: it's doughnut dough, mixed with Coke concentrate, fried, topped with whipped cream, and served in a soda cup.

While it's arguably great PR for Texas (they're creative! even if they won't live all that long, they sure are bigger and better), this can't really strike love and joy in the hearts of the PR folks at The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). See, deep-fried with whipped cream on top isn't exactly the perfect brand image right now. Everyone's trying to be healthier, from The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)'s campaign to take its Princesses off nutritionally unworthy snacks, to PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)'s struggle to push baked options in the inner city, even and especially Coca-Cola itself, which is about to release its calorie-burning green tea drink, Enviga.