What Was Taco Bell Thinking?

Oh, wait.  That's right... Taco Bell wasn't thinking when they ran an ad which they quickly pulled after enough grumbling from the public.  What's the beef all about?  The commercial starts with, "Bringing veggies on game day is like punting on 4th and 1.  It's a cop-out; and secretly, people kinda hate you for it."  Really, Taco Bell?  Here is the ad which can still be found floating around the internet, thank you YouTube.  

I get it. Most people would rather throw down on some fast food tacos than raw veggies.  Taking a quick look into the current state of health and obesity in the US drives that point home faster than Taco Bell can whip up a batch of their pre-packaged taco mystery meat.  And, I get it that places like Taco Bell count on us spending our food dollars with them rather than on veggies - though calling anything served at Taco Bell "food" is a stretch in the use of the word "food".  Yet, promoting that bringing veggies to game day is lame AND that people will think you are a big d-bag is pretty over the top and inexcusable. 

Of course to drive the point home, the dude in the commercial brings over a bunch of limp, way-past-the-expiration-date-sad vegetables rather than something that resembles.... say... this!

Go ahead.  Hate me for bringing this.  I dare ya!

 

I have an idea, Taco Bell.  How about you sell your "food" in a manner that displays what you are really serving up.  Let the hero in your commercial show up with a big bag full of this and see how much love he gets...

 Click to enlarge.  Sounds delish, right?

As always, my point isn't about being controversial.  Being controversial about food is pretty easy and there are already way too many talking heads and bloggers out there to get people worked up.  My vision is about helping others to wake up to what is in our food supply and to know what this stuff does to our bloodstream, to our mind, and to our spirit.  My point is about giving you the opportunity to make an informed decision - you are free to select Taco Bell all you want, but you should at least know what's going into your pie hole when you make that choice.  My point is about waking people up to the marketing and propaganda which has an direct impact on how we behave, the choices we make, how we spend our money and how we nourish ourselves.  Example: In 2010, the fast food industry spent over $4 billion on marketing.  Ya think that might distort the perception and actions of more than a few Americans?

I'll leave you with this "food for thought":

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons... who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses.  It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind."

Edward Bernays, the father of public relations and marketing.  1928, in his book "Propaganda".  Use your google-fu skills to learn more about this cat and then tell me you are above the control of marketing and advertising!    

Free your mind.

Know what's in your food. 

Vote with your dollars.

Be an activist for your bloodstream.