The story of Jared and the weight loss he achieved eating a steady diet of Subway turned the sandwich chain into a seemingly overnight success. Now, Taco Bell is looking to go a similar route with a real life weight loss story of a customer who dined on the chain's Fresco menu to drop 54 pounds over a two-year period. Unfortunately for the fast kinda-Mexican food chain, people are not nearly as receptive to the story of Christine Dougherty as they were to Jared's.
Ms. Dougherty, who exercised regularly and reduced her daily intake by 500 calories a day on her Taco Bell diet, tells consumers in ads that, while her "results aren't typical ... they're fantastic."
AdAge.com reports that Taco Bell has seen its image take a hit since launching what it calls its Drive-Thru Diet Menu campaign. Zeta Buzz, which tracks online chatter, said Taco Bell's rating went from a positive of 73 percent to 67 percent while commentary volume has jumped 44 percent. Taco Bell now trails Arby's, Blimpie and White Castle on the lower end of the approval scale.
"It seems like it's backfiring in a big way," Al DiGuido, CEO of Zeta Interactive, told Ad Age. "It seems like this execution has people really confused and now folks are lobbying in their own way to have it stopped."
For its part, Taco Bell appears committed to the Drive-Thru Diet Menu for the long haul.
"The Drive-Thru Diet Menu is true to our Mexican-inspired heritage by offering real variety in form, flavors, taste, texture and the aroma our customers love, while being lower in fat," said David Ovens, chief marketing officer of Taco Bell, in a press release.
Rob Poetsch, a spokesperson for Taco Bell, told Ad Age, "Over the years, we've heard stories from our customers who have lost weight by incorporating Fresco into their meal choices, and Christine had written Taco Bell a letter detailing her journey. Her story is a great example of how making better choices can inspire many."
Discussion
Question: Should Taco Bell stick with its Drive-Thru Diet Menu campaign
or is there something behind the negative reactions of bloggers and others
online?