We Spent a Night at the Taco Bell Hotel, Where Everything Is Supremely on Brand

Here's what we saw at The Bell

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That gong you just heard? You know it as the signature sound of Taco Bell from its commercials, but now it also summons guests to The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort.

The over-the-top experiential marketing experience from agencies Edelman and United Entertainment Group is open for just four days in the desert east of Los Angeles, taking over a boutique setting and remaking it in the brand’s own quirky, sauce- and sass-filled image.

(Technically it all kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally launch The Bell, but the gong was ever-present, creating a Pavlovian response from the few hundred people there Thursday and Friday).

On Thursday, the Irvine-based brand packed The Bell for the first of four nights that the pop-up will be operating in Palm Springs, and Adweek was there for all the festivities.

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