Taco Bell is Just Giving Away Tacos

Or at least they will be, as soon as someone steals a base in the World Series.

While neither the Red Sox nor the Rockies are stolen base crazy, run-first type teams, there has been a stolen base in every World Series since 1990, so it seems like a pretty safe bet this will happen. Taco Bell will then announce a future Tuesday afternoon when America can come in for their 1 free beef crunchy taco.

This decision, like other give-away’s similar to it, is an absolutely BRILLIANT marketing move by Taco Bell for a few reasons:

#1: The Taco Bell brand name will be widely mentioned, heard and discussed, be it on blogs, all over the news, and in articles and TV coverage of the World Series.

#2: This initial press costs nothing. All they did was announce a promotion, and the media takes over, meaning that before the free taco’s are given away, Taco Bell has gotten millions of dollars of advertising at absolutely no cost whatsoever.

#3: Far more people will remember that Taco Bell did this than will actually go in to collect their free taco. Taco Bell will build good will with the average consumer who like to see companies give stuff away, whether or not they personally take advantage of the offer.

#4: The promotion pays for itself. How many people do you know that would go to a Taco Bell and be satisfied eating one single taco? The average meal their contains anywhere from 2-4 tacos. Many people will go in, get the free taco, and purchase other food or soda on top of that, spending enough money to cover the cost of the free taco.

This is similar to the Taco Bell promotion in Dallas, where on Maverick’s game nights fans get a free taco if the Mavericks break 100 points. The Mavericks break 100 points all the time, so clearly the traffic driven to Taco Bell after games more than makes up for the cost to the company of the tacos they give away.

Bravo Taco Bell, bravo. I’m not sure why more companies don’t do this on a national level, but I applaud you for your innovative thinking and shrewd marketing.