Taco Bell
Ad Review: Taco Bell Sandwich Lady
Ad Medium: TV (national) and YouTube
Brand: Taco Bell
Overall Grade: C-
Quick Review: Seemingly unavoidable every time you turn on the Tv these days, the Taco Bell Sandwich Lady commercial breaks, in my book, advertising rule #1: don’t feature jerks. And yet there they are, two smug office workers being unnecessarily mean to the older Hispanic woman trying to sell them a (perhaps overpriced) sandwich.
All ads will receive mixed reviews, and I’ve talked to people (all non-Latino) who have no problem with this ad, but it really bothers me. Is it because I’m Hispanic? This might be why I tend to be on the “side” of the Hispanic woman, who is just trying to earn a buck. Yet, in the global economy of lunch food options, she is priced out by-get this- a fast food company that sells Mexican food at a price cheaper than her $5.50 sandwiches. Ironic, huh? Not really.
Call me naive, but I don’t like any ad that is mean-spirited or features someone getting picked on. If the races didn’t matter in this ad, then they wouldn’t stand out to me. But they do. This is an ad for Mexican food, and we witness a hostile interaction between an older Hispanic lady and two young, white collar workers, one white, one African-American. Of all the directions Taco Bell could have chosen, why did they go in this direction? A couple of smug, young guys ganging up on a food vendor who is of a different race than them is not cool. Especially when you’re Hispanic, and that woman looks like she could be your mother, aunt, or grandmother.
Read Also
The way I see it is she’s shoving the sandwich in their face and insisting they buy it. Rudely at that. And that $.50 is pure markup. She literally made up that price to make a bit more money. And when they say, not rudely, that they got their lunch cheaper at taco bell, she assaults him. I hate this commercial more than anything on TV right now except that screaming staples idiot commercial.