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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
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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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