Worked for me!
Posted by Krista Rogers
Among the top New Year’s resolutions are pledges about weight loss and exercise, so it is no surprise that when January rolls around we are besieged with gym and health-food advertisements. Ironically, as awareness of unhealthy transfats and the American obesity pandemic grows along with our waistlines, the fast food restaurants that have been guilty of clogging our arteries for years are now tooting their healthy-choices horn louder than ever. This makes sense from a marketing standpoint. People want healthier options, so it’s smart to truthfully highlight the healthier menu items. What doesn’t make sense is when a popular fast food chain tries to convince a nation that their “Drive-Thru Diet” is a weight loss secret.
Taco Bell, a quasi-Mexican fast food restaurant, isn’t just pitching its healthier options. It has gone pro-active and launched a misleading campaign with New Year’s “Frescolutions,” and seven menu items claiming to have nine grams of fat or less. Chewing on the campaign disclaimers will probably burn more calories than the 500 calories it claims you will save. How authentic is the diet and, beyond the bun, its Mexican cuisine?
The fine print includes:
“DRIVE-THRU-DIET® IS NOT A WEIGHT-LOSS PROGRAM… TACO BELL’S FRESCO MENU CAN HELP WITH CALORIE REDUCTIONS OF 20 TO 100 PER ITEM COMPARED TO CORRESPONDING PRODUCTS ON OUR REGULAR MENU…. FRESCO MENU ITEMS ARE NOT A LOW CALORIE FOOD.”
This comes at time when a new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, states that prepared foods may contain an average of 8 percent more calories than are printed on package labels and restaurant meals may contain a whopping 18 percent more.
Bottom line (a big bottom line): the Drive-Thru Diet is increasing belly laughs rather than reducing waistlines.
Additionally, the Mexican fast food chain has a commercial starring Christine Dougherty, who says she lost 54 pounds on the diet. Christine’s story, however, is unclear on the details. Christine says that she reduced her total daily calorie intake by 500 calories to 1,250 calories by choosing Fresco items and “making other sensible choices” (sharing Fresco items with companions?).
The restaurant’s creative and long-standing slogan “Think Outside the Bun,” is clever and relevant, however the diet program seems to lose sight of its target audience, those in search of filling ground beef tacos and burritos from the “late night menu” and “4th meal” categories.
Lessons learned? Fast food restaurants will never be considered a healthy diet option or a great stop along the road to weight loss. Taco Bell may be joining other fast food chains in offering healthy choices to offset criticism and possible government regulation. That can be done, but without the hype. Be authentic, clearly present the facts and be creative with your key messages, themes and keep your core values in mind in all that you do. If you stray too far, instead of getting people to “Think Outside the Bun,” you may convince them to go elsewhere. As the saying goes, here today, gone tamale.
Posted by Erin Koch
