The whole story is just layered in absurdity. You could say it has been thoroughly dusted in Nacho Cheese Absurdity seasoning. You might, prior to reading this, entertain some notion that a major corporation would have some refined and serious approach to innovation and product development. But no; the process of creating the DLT went like this: CEO says to reinvent the taco shell -> someone draws a concept image of the DLT -> staff sees said concept art as revolutionary -> staff get paint sprayers at home depot -> spray taco shells with seasoning -> resulting product is kinda gross -> find ways to make it not gross -> product is huge success So by the time you've hit the phrase
Nacho Cheese gas chamber
you don't even flinch at how absurd the story has gotten.
You sound like someone who has never seen the Pepsi Gravitational Field.
Looked up some prices online... Fast food is so much cheaper in the USA than the UK, although I do live in a pretty expensive town. Generally the independent fast food places do the cheapest stuff here. I can get a drink, chips and fried chicken here for £3.
Fast food in the USA is so cheap it makes more sense to buy a bucket of KFC for your family than it does to buy a chicken and cook it. This has led to the phenomenon of the "Food desert."