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Taco Bell Thankful for Lawsuit, Snarkily Reveals Recipe
The top portion of Taco Bell's new ad in the New York Times today
It looks like Taco Bell's PR team has been working overtime after a how legit-is-your-meat lawsuit alleged that the meat in your Chalupa is full of "extenders" that add fake volume. The Huffington Post reports that a new "Thank You for Suing Us" campaign hit today's editions of the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times and other papers.
Will snark and sarcasm and a bit of advertising bravery change the minds of Taco Bell customers who are fed up with fillers? Taco Bell is betting that it will. In the new campaign, they make a few bold pronouncements starting with: "The claims made against Taco Bell and our seasoned beef are absolutely false. Our beef is 100% USDA inspected, just like the quality beef you buy in a supermarket and prepare in your home."
The new ad claims that their "real" meat percentages are "88% Beef and 12% Secret Recipe." In a snarky-style common for crisis advertising, Taco Bell then reveals their "not-so-secret" recipe which contains a few usual suspects (Mexican spices, chili pepper, onion powder make up 4% of the 12%) and a few ingredients you would never add to your at-home tacos: oats, carmelized sugar, yeast, citric acid and "other ingredients that contribute to flavor, moisture, consistency and quality of our seasoned beef" make up another 5% of the secret recipe.
When was the last time you added citric acid and yeast to your at-home taco meat? And other ingredients? Hmmmm. Smells like a faux-reveal, doesn't it? Oh, advertising.
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