Doritos Locos Tacos Todd Mills died on Thanksgiving

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The man who came up with the extremely lucrative Doritos Locos Tacos idea passed away on Thanksgiving without ever making any money from his vision for cheesy tortilla chip-encrusted fast food.

Todd Mills, 41, died after a battle with brain cancer. His wife, Ginger, says her husband was simply happy to have his "cool idea" come to fruition.

Friends who heard about Todd’s passing posted Facebook photos of themselves chowing down on the popular Taco Bell snack. "It was a sweet memorial," Ginger said.

According to Ginger, her husband would often eat taco salads made with Doritos, and Todd wrote a letter to Frito-Lay in 2009 pitching the idea of using the spicy chips as taco shells.

The company said, "Thanks, but no thanks," Ginger recalled.

Despite the rejection, he pursued the idea with a Facebook page, the Taco Shells Made from Doritos Movement. that encouraged visitors to "tell Frito-Lay that we demand nacho cheesy taco shells!"

Taco Bell became aware of the page and commented on one of the photos Todd had posted. "He was really excited," Ginger said. "Taco Bell was paying attention to him. Of course, we called everyone we knew." After Doritos Locos Tacos reached the development stage, the company flew Todd out to California so he could try the new product.

"“We know this is a tragic time for Todd’s family. He was a huge Taco Bell fan. He was passionate about the Doritos Locos Taco, and although he did not invent it, he founded a Facebook page to drum up support. In light of his passion, we invited him to be one of the first to try it. He became a true friend of the brand, so when we learned of his ill health, we made a $1,000 donation towards his medical expenses. We will miss Todd very much and our hearts are with his family and friends in this difficult time.” Taco Bell said in a statement.

Friends say Todd never wanted compensation for his idea and was happy just to be able to have his tacos.

Although they are sometimes known to have strange effects on the stomach, tacos can apparently affect the economy as well. This year, Taco Bell said it exceeded $1 billion in sales of the Doritos Locos Tacos.

[USA Today]