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Taco Bell has major beef with the allegations made in a lawsuit against it this week — so much, in fact, that it's fighting back.

One California consumer's brought a false-advertising suit against the chain, objecting to its claims to serve "seasoned beef," and alleging the product contains merely 15 percent protein. In response, Taco Bell's contemplating plans to countersue and is defending its product by taking out full-page advertisements in prominent newspapers today.

The ad, titled, "Thank you for suing us. Here's the truth about our seasoned beef," includes the following statement:

The claims made against Taco Bell and our seasoned beef are absolutely false . . . We start with USDA-inspected quality beef (88%). Then add water to keep it juicy and moist (3%). Mix in Mexican spices and flavors (4%) . . . Combine a little oats, caramelized sugar, yeast, citric acid, and other ingredients that contribute to the flavor, moisture, consistency, and quality of our seasoned beef (5%). We stand behind the quality of our seasoned beef 100% and we are proud to serve it in all our restaurants. We take any claims to the contrary very seriously and plan to take legal action against those who have made false claims against our seasoned beef.

Since the chain's quarterly earnings will be released next week, a full-page ad — despite its six-figure price tag — is probably necessary. Do you buy Taco Bell's claims, and will you be buying its beef again?

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While checking up on local New York jewelry designer, Wendy Nichol, we discovered Nichol's daughter modeling in her newest look book. The shoot, a very pretty, very sweet, very Marc Jacobs-inspired gallery of images, shows the leather-covered hearts and pyramid shapes that are prominent in this most recent collection as worn by the youngest of the Nichol's clan. We know Nichol from our days in e-commerce and know that she and her family are more or less the perfect version of 'I'm never moving to the suburbs' and so we only saw it is as very sweet and quirky of the Nichols family. How will other people feel, we wonder? It's hard to say. If anything the shoot will bring some extra-jewelry shopping attention to her brand or, at worst, upset people who misconstrue it as inappropriate or damaging to put a young girl in mascara--it does, in a way, make us feel old and haggard even in our mid-twenties. Look book aside, Wendy Nichol is an amazing jewelry designer. Her rock and roll vibe and balance between costumery and fine jewelry has made her a prominant New York designer. In the end, our headline is 'cute daughter in tough-girl jewelry makes for Marc Jacobsy/quirky look book'. It's a winner.