‘The Internet is Talking’ in Deutsch’s Latest for Taco Bell

Deutsch’s much-hyped Super Bowl ad for Taco Bell revealed the faux-Mexican fast food chain’s new menu item to be the Quesalupa, as many had speculated. That spot was centered around the idea that the Quesalupa was “Bigger Than…” just about everything, including the Internet. Its ending, featuring a chuckling George Takei, it turns out, hinted at things to come. 

The 30-second “The Internet is Talking” opens on Takei sitting on a throne with a wall of screens behind him, apparently anointed King of the Internet. AS the voiceover asks “What’s the Internet saying about the Quesalupa?” a chuckling King George swipes his finger to display a tweet where one young man says he could marry the fast food product. Takei goes on to read several more tweets, accompanied by some cheesy (no pun intended graphics) before the spot concludes with the voiceover telling viewers to “Taste what the Internet is raving about.” Despite Takei’s amiable personality, the ad is essentially 30-seconds of social media responses to a fast food product, which doesn’t exactly make for engaging viewing. It may or may not pander to obvious to its (young) target demographic, while older viewers may be left wondering if this is what advertising has come to. A second, 15-second spot focuses on one specific tweet calling for “Chalupa for president,” with Takei delivering a “Make America cheesy” line that calls to mind the campaign slogan of a certain overly-litigious orange hate-monger (unfortunately such jokes already feel tired). With Takei’s star power, a much-hyped new product and a sufficiently open-ended approach, we expect to see plenty more in this vein from Deutsch for Taco Bell, for better or for worse.