Company Invites Americans to Find a Spork in Space to Win Trip to Hollywood
IRVINE, Calif.--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Jul 23, 2002--Taco Bell is going where no brand has gone before. The same people who brought you the Mir space station “free taco” offer and tried to buy the Liberty Bell have become the first company to adopt the galaxy’s largest billboard. The ultimate in corporate advertising, a star configuration shaped like a bowl, was adopted to honor its newest product, the Southwest Steak Border Bowl(TM). The Company is now challenging consumers to look to the skies, “connect the dots” and identify a sky-high spork - the utensil needed to eat a Border Bowl product - in its “Spot the Spork” contest. The grand prize winner will receive a trip to see the “stars “ in Hollywood, $1,500 spending money, and a year’s supply of Border Bowl(TM) meals.
This latest sky-high, outside-the-bun advertising tool was created based on findings from the Company’s recent Food Fetish Survey fielded by Luntz Research Companies. Taco Bell discovered that 62 percent of Americans are unfamiliar with the spork, with some mistaking the utensil - a hybrid spoon and fork - for “a planetary constellation.”
“Taco Bell is a left-of-center brand that is known for the ideas that push the envelope,” said Greg Creed, chief marketing officer, Taco Bell Corp. “Lance Bass and Cindy Crawford want to be the first celebrities to make it into space. Well, we want to be the first corporation. We feel our bowl constellation hits another marketing milestone in the ‘think big’ department.”
Taco Bell fans can win the grand prize by identifying the grouping of stars that best resembles a spork. Consumers must get a star map at www.tacobell.com or request one via phone, to map their find. Entries will be judged on how closely they resemble the spork utensil used in Taco Bell(R) restaurants. All participants will receive a coupon for a free Border Bowl(TM) product.
Contestants must send their entries, postmarked on or before August 23, 2002, to Taco Bell(R) “Spot The Spork,” Taco Bell Corp., 17901 Von Karman, Irvine, CA, 92614, ATTN: Public Relations. Entries must be received by August 30, 2002. Entrants must be 18 or older and a U.S. resident. For Official Rules, contest information and a photo of the bowl constellation, please visit www.tacobell.com or call 866-SKY-BOWL.
According to Stan Shadick, University of Saskatchewan Observatory Director, spork spotters should go to a very dark area about two hours before sunrise during the months of July and August for optimum viewing of this star configuration. “The gigantic bowl resides in Perseus constellation and can be located low in the northeast sky at about 30 degrees above the horizon. Or just look for the Big Dipper, locate its scoop and follow that up diagonally to the right,” said Shadick. “Even without any tools to help, the unaided eye can see more than 3,000 stars in the sky. So, everybody has an opportunity to find a spork grouping.”
The contest kicks off the new Southwest Steak Border Bowl product, now available at participating Taco Bell(R) restaurants for $3.49. It contains grilled, marinated steak, tomatoes, green onions and a shredded three-cheese blend, layered over seasoned rice and beans, served with creamy jalapeno sauce. The new Border Bowl line-up is the company’s first complete meal-in-a-bowl product that seeks to capture the appetites of quick-casual consumers and fans of the burgeoning $240 million bowl entrée category. In late June, Taco Bell introduced its first Border Bowl product, the Zesty Chicken Border Bowl™.
This contest serves as the latest call to Taco Bell consumers to “Think Outside The Bun.” The company’s $200 million “Think Outside The Bun” advertising campaign, created by Foote, Cone & Belding San Francisco challenges Americans to rethink their eating habits and demand bold, innovative menu items like those found at Taco Bell.
Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of YUM! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), is the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain serving tacos, burritos, signature Chalupas and Gorditas, nachos and other specialty items. Taco Bell serves more than 35 million consumers each week in nearly 6,500 restaurants in the U.S. In 2001, Taco Bell generated nearly $5 billion in system-wide sales. Think Outside the Bun and visit www.tacobell.com.
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