Meet Harold and Lenny, the pair of geriatric kvetchers in Deutsch’s most recent assault on McDonald’s in their latest campaign promoting the new Taco Bell breakfast menu.
Deutsch and Taco Bell have had McDonald’s in their sights since they launched the breakfast menu with their real life Ronald McDonalds (an idea borrowed from a 2002 Jack In The Box campaign). They ratcheted things up with the 80s-referencing “Get With The Times,” which called out the McMuffin directly as being as out of touch as the spot’s Loverboy-fan protagonist. This time around, the McMuffin isn’t explicitly referenced, but the pair of old men complaining about youngsters and the new Taco Bell breakfast items appear to be eating McDonald’s signature breakfast sandwich on a park bench.
The formula is the same for the three new spots, said pair of old men complaining about young people and Taco Bell’s new breakfast offerings on a park bench across the street from a Taco Bell. This allows Deutsch to skewer McDonald’s as being for the old and out of touch while simultaneously promoting the new Taco Bell breakfast items, such as when the pair question the need for a one-handed breakfast (the A.M. Crunchwrap) — “so they can do that Tweeter thing,” one of them explains. In another spot, the pair complain about the “Morning Rave” happening at Taco Bell, despite the fact that they don’t know what a rave is. This all ties in well with the tagline, “The next generation of breakfast is here.”
There’s no official word as to whether Harold and Lenny are expected to make an appearance beyond this campaign, as a spokeswoman told AdAge, “Anything is possible” when asked if they will be ongoing characters. Stick around for “Morning Rave” and “Slippery Slope” after the jump.