Buzzy Tacos.

Taco Bell has been in the news a lot lately. From their beef with Taco John’s on Tuesdays and with McDonald’s every other day of the week, they’ve been causing a stir.

It’s not every day you see a mammoth corporation pick on a smaller sized brand. That’s what they call “punching down” and is generally frowned upon. Taco Bell never got that memo, apparently. They want to void Taco John’s Trademark on Taco Tuesday™.

I’m here for this simply because, intentional or not, Taco Bell is creating a buzz about it’s lesser known competitor. Judging from what the CEO of Taco John’s had to say about it, I think he might be a little tickled. "​​I'd like to thank our worthy competitors at Taco Bell for reminding everyone that Taco Tuesday[™] is best celebrated at Taco John's," Taco John's CEO Jim Creel said.

The comments section on the change.org petition included a lot of people asking the question “What even is Taco John’s?” Since it’s currently in 23 states there are probably a good number of people who are unfamiliar. Don’t get me wrong, Taco John’s is a pretty sizeable restaurant group. 400ish units is by no means small unless, of course, compared to the 11th largest fast food chain in the world. Taco John’s has had some pretty healthy growth in the last 2 years, with more expected in 2023. The interview that their CMO Barry Westrum gave on “A Deeper Dive” podcast was really good. It gave a little behind the scenes peak at what happened when Taco John’s caught wind of what was happening. You can listen to it here.

I hope all this publicity helps Taco John’s grow into the formidable adversary of Taco Bell’s dreams.

Now… McDonald’s?

Taco Bell recently said that they want to have as many units domestically as McDonald’s. While they admit that the sales numbers wouldn’t be there, it’ll be exciting to see what happens. McDonald’s has been taking price over the last few quarters and people aren’t happy about it. McDonald’s is claiming that this is due to raising their wages (a noble pursuit to be sure) and supply chain costs. I’m gonna go ahead and call bullshit. Their net income (money left over after paying wages, COGS, etc) for the first quarter of 2023 are 63.19% increase year over year. That’s over a BILLION dollars. Left over. After they pay for everything.

I think McDonald’s could use a little healthy competition. While Taco Bell isn’t an apples to apples competitor to McDonald’s it satisfies that one need that McDonald’s hasn’t in awhile - affordability.

So, Taco Bell, you go on with your bad self. Shake up the industry a little bit. My only ask is that you maybe play nice with your smaller competitors.