Local fast food chain Mighty Taco stumbled upon very unexpected publicity last night when MSNBC ran a story on how New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large sodas screeched to a halt after a judge’s ruling. Watch the video above, but pay special attention at the 13-second mark when a cup of soda is being filled.

You’re now asking yourself, “What the heck is a Mighty Taco cup doing in New York City? Did a homesick expat purchase thousands out of nostalgia? Was that lazy MSNBC stock footage from WNY?”

After reaching out to Mighty Taco through its contact page, we received a phone call from chief operating officer Russell Jasulevich, who unraveled the perplexing cup situation for us.

A few years ago, Mighty Taco chose a new cup manufacturer, and the old manufacturer still held a large surplus of already-labeled Mighty Taco cups. Instead of throwing out the extras or encouraging Mighty Taco to purchase them, the original manufacturer distributed them to several New York City pizzerias, Jasulevich noted. Why waste product, right?

Judging from Mighty Taco’s Facebook page, Mighty Taco cup sightings are a regular occurrence in the Big Apple. Since this morning, Mighty Taco has received over 25,000 views of its post, 12 shares, 264 “likes” and 39 comments. One commenter, Sonya Schlaun Lirussi, writes: “The cups taunt me!”

Mighty Taco’s COO mentioned that he regularly fields the question of “when did you open a Mighty Taco in New York City?” through phone calls and social media, and he responds that Mighty Taco is still a Western New York chain that only recently expanded to Rochester.

Still, the site of a Mighty Taco cup in New York City excites the hundreds of Buffalo expats dwelling in New York City, a comforting reminder of home that creates a longing for a “Mighty Pack” or a “Nachos Deluxe.”

“The cups in NYC spark conversation and interest,” Jasulevich said in the phone call, “and we didn’t have to do a darned thing!”

There’s a finite number of Mighty Taco cups in New York City, however, as the local chain went back to the old manufacturer and purchased the remainder of the cups so as to avoid further confusion in NYC.

Keep those cups as relics, expats—they may be worth something someday. (Okay, probably not, but it’s a good reason to wax nostalgic for Buffalo).