Culture

Taco Bell Deploys Squad of Ronald McDonalds to Fight the Fast Food Breakfast Wars

In case you thought Taco Bell was only tepidly stepping into the breakfast wars with its new offerings today, think again. An ad from Taco Bell made that challenge against McDonalds' Egg McMuffin domination far more directly.

By Eric Levenson
Saved Stories
This article is from the archive of our partner .

In case you thought Taco Bell was only tepidly dipping its toe into the white hot breakfast pool, think again. The fast food warriors are taking direct aim at Egg McMuffin folks and not backing down.

Thursday morning marked the national release of the fast food joint's much-hyped new breakfast menu, highlighted by the A.M. Crunchwrap and the Waffle Taco. And timed to that unveiling came this ad, in which Taco Bell rounded up America's many other, non-clown Ronald McDonalds to test out the new food. Spoiler alert: They liked it.

"I'm Ronald McDonald and I love Taco Bell's new breakfast," the group of 23 people loudly proclaim. In small print, a minor disclaimer: "These Ronald McDonalds are not affiliated with McDonald's Corporation and were individually selected as paid endorsers of Taco Bell Breakfast, but man, they sure did love it." It's a blatant shot across the bow at the long-time kingpin, McDonalds, which has dominated the early-morning fast food business since the McMuffin's debut 40 years ago. The ad is a clear sign: the Breakfast Blitzkrieg has begun.

But are these new breakfast foods any good? The early reviews look good for the Crunchwrap, a hexagonal tortilla stuffed with eggs, cheese, hash browns, and bacon, which was the most ordered food at the New York City Taco Bell that The Daily Dot visited. For one, it was stuffed with the most food, and that food was delicious. "And now the good news: The AM Crunchwrap, which we sampled with and without bacon, totally rocks," Gothamist writes. 

But it's the Waffle Taco that has provided the biggest range of opinions. As we noted when it first premiered, the egg, cheese, and sausage concoction inside a folded waffle was "beautiful and frightening and full of meat." It has inspired both fear and love thus far. (But also looks the least like its advertising materials, when spotted in real life.) "The verdict? Surprisingly good! I practically inhaled the waffle taco," The Daily Dot writes. Not so, said Gothamist. "Let's get the bad news out of the way first: the Waffle Tacos are really meh," Gothamist proclaims. The whole taco was a bit too sweet, even without syrup, Newsday writes.

Today is the culmination of months of pre-launch promotion, as Taco Bell went on an extensive public relations campaign to hype up the breakfast unveiling, as Fast Company details. The company targeted about a thousand "influencers" and mailed them each ancient cell phones that were used to send daily PR messages. As The Wire's Taco Bell correspondent Adam Chandler found, that group was decidedly young and male.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.