By Malay Desai
From: USA, by Deutsch LA
To introduce its new breakfast menu and launch its biscuit taco to take on competitor McDonald’s, Taco Bell has unveiled a multimedia campaign, which instigates people to ‘defect’ from their routine. The film, titled Routine Republic, shows a man waking up in a refugee-camp like place, to incessant announcements of ‘Happiness is eating the same breakfast.’ While in queue to pick up burgers, he gets a secret message with a hexagon on it and the word ‘defect.’ Alongwith a female accomplice, he darts to escape the walled place, the joker-faced police machinery chasing them. They are successful and eventually reach a place with hexagonal tacos, also having instigated others to escape.
Why we Like?
McDonald’s golden arches have dominated America’s 30 billion USD fast-food breakfast market, but that doesn't say much about the quality of their microwaved eggs inside the same ol’ buns. Taco Bell, sitting at just 6 per cent of the said market share, has taken up arms against what it infers as tyranny, and it’s not for the first time.
Exactly in this week last year, Taco Bell had hit headlines by cheekily featuring real-life ‘Ronald McDonalds’ trying out their breakfast menu. This time, they haven’t been as kind. TB’s new campaign seems to be the result of a well-prepared war-room brainstorm, and their centerpiece film is its finest propaganda in long. The villain here is the market leader that perhaps knowingly dishes out ‘sameness’ (because its consumers want it?) every single day.
The campaign’s budget lends much meat to the film that’s seeking to be revolutionary – there’s elaborate production with extras, locations and details such as showing the machines of the tyrannical rulers of Routine Republic. The idea is simple: break the monotony that this communist-like food giant is drilling into your head, and run away to fresher ideas. TB’s new biscuit taco, which can be filled with eggs, sausage, cheese, chicken and jalapeno honey sauce truly sounds like a cause worthy to rebel for.
There have been no attempts made to be subtle here, with every face of the ‘rulers’ of this republic resembling that of McDee’s mascot. And with grey, drab imagery, fascist-like posters such as ‘circle good, hexagon bad’ and ‘eat our breakfast’, Deutsch LA has made it clear who’s at fault for millions in America waking up to the same burgers from long. The campaign, integrated with the same ‘defect to us’ tone on its microsite and social properties, packs a punch by making the McDee loyalist rethink his priorities. Ambitious!
One last thing Taco Bell, in case your Indian agents of change are reading this – it’s been slightly long (over six months) since your flagship product, er, the taco, has been missing. Kindly address, we’ve already defected to less tyrannical aloo paratha and bhurji pav.
(To watch this film, feed this easy link –‘bit.ly/April6_viewtube’into your browser)
Social Newsfeed
Your regular dose on the shifts in the social media universe
iOS users, check out Periscope by Twitter
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Popeye likes this
Also, Twitter has a competitor for Storify
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ArnabJee likes this
YepMe’ssocial actics fall flat too
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