September 17, 2023
Comment section from a post made on Sept. 12, 2023
Post Summary:
This was a post promoting Taco Bell’s latest campaign, “Taco Tuesday.” They collaborated with DoorDash to give customers the opportunity to get a discount on their online orders through the food delivery app. However, according to Taco Bell’s Instagram page, some customers were having trouble getting the promotion to work. Many of the comments were along the lines of “why won’t the promo code work?” or “can they fix the code?” While scrolling through the comments, I was expecting to find at least one time where Taco Bell responded to these questions, but they never did. The only times they responded to comments was when the remarks were positive towards the restaurant. For example, when someone comments, “this is going to be the best Tuesday ever,” Taco Bell would reply with something like, “we totally agree” and then add some taco emojis. I think it will be interesting to follow up on this in my future blog posts. I’ll dive into future posts and see if Taco Bell has more promotions or collaborations up their sleeve as well as to monitor how they interact with their customers.
September 24, 2023
Instagram post from Sept. 22, 2023
Post Summary:
This post is actually a repost from a customer of Taco Bell. The fast food restaurant will do this time and time again on their social media accounts. They’ll find a post from a random customer, not necessarily celebrities or household names, and repost it to their official pages and give these people a little bit of fame by being featured by Taco Bell. After all, their Instagram account is the home of a whopping 1.5 million followers. This post references a text to a Taco Bell customer, most likely from a DoorDash or UberEats driver, letting them know that their order would be arriving shortly. This is a smooth way of the company letting their customers know that they are available on these food delivery apps. The post could also potentially lead to others posting their Taco Bell orders or experiences for the slim chance of possibly being reposted to a page that gains a lot of attention. Shoutout to the man of the hour, Kevin!
October 1, 2023
Instagram post from Sept. 29, 2023
Post Summary:
Similar to last week, this is a post that Taco Bell reported from one of their customers. As you can see, there is a Koenigsegg CCXR parked out front of a Taco Bell on a rainy day. That is a super car currently listed at $4.8 million. I think Taco Bell is trying to portray that even millionaires stop and eat at Taco Bell. Maybe it’s to brag or maybe it’s to let people know that Taco Bell is a restaurant for everyone regardless of class or status. The caption reads, “rain or shine.” This infers to the customer that Taco Bell is open no matter what the weather conditions are and they’re dedicated to providing their customers with the best food possible. It’s important for restaurants to be on top of things that are out of anyone’s control. It doesn’t matter to Taco Bell if a huge tropical storm or hurricane is coming to town. All that matters to them is serving tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and baja blasts.
October 8, 2023
Today.com article from Oct. 5, 2023 by Joseph Lamour
Post Summary:
Taco Bell has joined forces with Major League Baseball for this upcoming World Series. Through this partnership, the two companies will bring back their famous “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion. This means the first player to steal a base in the world series wins all Taco Bell Rewards members free tacos nationwide. The player who steals that base will be given the title of “Taco Hero.” Taco Bell has also teamed up with Topps sporting cards for the opportunity for a Taco Bell Rewards member to win “Taco Bell for Life!” According to Lamour, that’s approximately 7,537 orders of Rolled Chicken Tacos. To win this opportunity, participants will need to collect special Taco Bell themed sports cards hidden at random in Topps card packs. The person who collects the card of the “Taco Hero” will be the winner of “Taco Bell for Life.” Taco Bell Rewards members can get free cards through the Taco Bell mobile app. I can’t wait for the “Taco Hero” to steal that base so, as a nation, we can all enjoy free tacos.
October 15, 2023
TheStreet.com article from Oct. 15, 2023 by Daniel Kline
Post Summary:
This article from TheStreet.com posted by Daniel Kline describes in detail the latest menu addition to all Taco Bell chain locations across the country. The menu item being described is a game changer for the Taco Bell franchise. Yes that’s right, we’re talking about the all new Steak and Bacon Grilled Cheese Burrito! The Grilled Cheese Steak Burrito is a pretty popular and successful menu item so Taco Bell did us all a favor and added everyone’s comfort food of choice: bacon! Kline refers to an excerpt from Fast Food Post to go into detail on the savory goodness of Taco Bell’s latest masterpiece, “”Taco Bell’s Steak and Bacon Grilled Cheese Burrito features marinated, grilled steak, potatoes, chipotle sauce, nacho cheese sauce, reduced-fat sour cream, and three-cheese blend, all wrapped up inside a warm flour tortilla, with more three-cheese blend and bacon grilled on top.” The brand new product weighed in at a massive 700 calories. You can unleash mayhem on this burrito in one of two ways. You can get the burrito by itself for the low, low price of $5.99, taxes may vary. Or you could get the Steak and Bacon Grilled Cheese Burrito Combo Box for just $3 more. The combo box comes along with a large sized fountain drink as well as a crunchy taco on the side. I can’t wait to get mine!
October 22, 2023
On3.com article from Oct. 22, 2023 by Peter Warren
Post Summary:
On Sunday October 22, an Indiana University men’s basketball player, Mackenzie Mgbako, was arrested at a Taco Bell close to the University in Bloomington, Indiana. The freshman was arrested for Class A misdemeanors in criminal trespassing and resisting law enforcement. The Taco Bell employees working that night said Mgbako was being rude and cursing while ordering from the drive-thru line. They refused to serve him so he didn’t move his car. The Taco Bell employees called local law enforcement who persuaded Mgbako to move his car. However, he only moved to a parking space on the Taco Bell property. He remained on the property for about 15 minutes before relocating to another parking lot near the Taco Bell. The police continued to try to talk to Mgbako but he would not get out of his car or roll his windows down. This made the police officers break through his car windows to forcefully get him out. He resisted arrest by tensing his arms making it difficult for the officers to get him in cuffs. Once the police secured him in cuffs, they took him to Monroe County Jail currently pending details from an active investigation. Not the best headline for the Taco Bell franchise but no publicity is bad publicity, I guess.
October 29, 2023
CBSsports.com article from Oct. 28, 2023 by Matt Snyder
Post Summary:
If you look back to the October 8th post from this blog, you’ll remember that Taco Bell and the MLB have a partnership every year for the World Series. That partnership includes the fan favorite promotion of “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” meaning the first player to steal a base in the World Series wins a free taco for anybody in America with a Taco Bell Rewards membership. This year, in Game 1 of the World Series, Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte became the “Taco Hero” stealing second base in the top of the 3rd inning. Ketel Marte is now the 11th player in 12 seasons to be crowned “Taco Hero” as this promotion started in 2007 when Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox stole a base winning free tacos for America. Mookie Betts has been named “Taco Hero” twice on two different teams, once with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and once with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. The current 2023 World Series is now all tied up at 1 game a piece. Game 3 is tomorrow (Monday Oct. 30, 2023) heading back from Texas to Arizona. Taco Bell Rewards members all across the country will be cheering on Ketel Marte for his contributions of providing the nation with free tacos. Thank you Ketel, we all greatly appreciate it!
November 5, 2023
EatThis.com article from Nov. 2, 2023 by Zoe Strozewski
Post Summary:
This article describes the recent collective success of the Taco Bell chain through the third quarter of 2023. The company leaders announced in a conference call that their same-store sales saw an increase of 8%, overall system sales increased by 11%, and there was a 5% increase in store count. Furthermore, compared to the third quarter of 2022, Taco Bell’s digital sales went up by a whopping 45%. “Yum Brands!” (parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and The Habit Burger Grill) CEO, David Gibbs revealed two reasons for Taco Bell’s recent successes. First, the temporary summer return of the chain’s famous combo deal, the $5 Cravings Box reeled in a ton of customers from both high-income and low-income Taco Bell locations. Gibbs explained that more people in general are choosing to eat at fast food services rather than sitting and eating at traditional restaurants. The second reason for Taco Bell’s recent success is their campaign to free the trademark for “Taco Tuesday.” This campaign was successful as the trademark was lifted and Gibbs says that it brought a lot of attention and awareness of new customers for Taco Bell. Gibbs also predicts a pretty strong 2024 from Taco Bell as well. He didn’t want to give away too much but “If you’ve seen the actual detailed plans for next year, you’d be as excited as [he is].” Personally, I can’t wait to see where Taco Bell’s momentum takes them into next year.
November 12, 2023
WJTV.com article from Nov. 11 by Melissa Moon
Post Summary:
A Taco Bell in Memphis, Tennessee has been burglarized by a masked man using a metal grinder to break into a safe after jumping through the drive thru window. The Memphis Police Department has not disclosed the amount of money stolen from the Taco Bell, however they are still extremely concerned. The reason for the distress is because this is now the third Taco Bell in Memphis to be robbed in the past month. A few weeks back on October 24th, two men and a woman went through another Taco Bell drive thru when one of the men jumped through the window with a gun in his hand and ran off with $1,100. The woman, who was the getaway driver, was arrested later that night. Just two days after that, on October 26th, two more men at a third Taco Bell location forced their way in, demanded money from the employees, and escaped through the drive thru window. Police are advising all Taco Bell customers to order with caution and eat in store at their own risk. They are also seeking any information that may assist them in their ongoing investigation. It’s just a shame to see a fine establishment like Taco Bell being harmed in such an awful way.
November 19, 2023
TheTakeout.com article from Nov. 17 by Dennis Lee
Post Summary: This article from TheTakeout.com by Dennis Lee describes Taco Bell’s newest breakfast menu addition, Breakfast Tots. Taco Bell is testing this new breakfast product at only five chain locations across Chicago and one of those was in the neighborhood of Dennis Lee. He describes the pros and cons of this new menu addition before revealing how the taste is. Typical fast food breakfast is something you can eat quickly without a mess, for example while you’re driving to work. Taco Bell’s new Breakfast Tots come in the form of a bowl with seasoned tater tots, scrambled eggs, your choice of sausage or bacon, a three cheese blend of mozzarella, pepper jack, and cheddar, as well as a drizzle of creamy jalapeño sauce. Lee says that the combination of ingredients is minimalistic but it still tastes great if you have the time to sit down and enjoy it. Taco Bell is still getting into the fast food breakfast game as they just introduced their version in the past six months. They started with various versions of tortilla based items like breakfast tacos, burrito, and wraps. The addition of breakfast bowls could go either way in terms of being popular or not. If Taco Bell decides to launch them nationwide, they will go for the low, low price of $4.99 plus tax. Personally, I’m not a fan of any fast food breakfast items from any franchise so I don’t think I’ll be getting involved if the Breakfast Tots go national.
