Agency Spy has a post about the unbelievably fucking awful TV spot Taco Bell is using on the Superbowl to launch their latest addition to the world of inedible food, Fiesta Platters. The 30-second spot was created by their agency, which is none other than Draft/FCB. Set to run during the fourth quarter it is without a doubt, scraping the bottom of even the rancid Draft/FCB barrel. . Debbie Myers, Vice President/media and promotions at Taco Bell says...“Whatever happens, viewers will hang in there, they tune in to watch not just the game, but the ads themselves, the Super Bowl] is the consistently highest-rated program of the year, where people–instead of avoiding commercials–are anticipating and looking forward to seeing them.” Listen Lady... No one in their right fucking mind could look forward to watching this rancid turd. It must have been done after a Jonathan Harries "Creative Rumble! O fucking le!
.
So where do I have to go to bite the nuts off this Draft gringo?
The point is what, sit down IN the Taco Bell and enjoy a relaxed lunch? Fine dining it's not! I think the "rumble" will be in the bowels of those guys eating that stuff. Taco Bell, and worse yet - DraftFCB - thinks this is worth blowing 2 and half million to run?
Posted by: Auntie Christ | January 30, 2008 at 04:46 PM
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ... you can smell it from here.....
Posted by: the lower depths | January 30, 2008 at 05:37 PM
Wow. I mean fucking wow. Stereotypes much? Gimmee the talking lions from last year instead.
Oh wait, an AE has something to add:
“What if the lions were talking AND humping?”
Posted by: bg | January 30, 2008 at 06:06 PM
Oh, and cool that they told us when it would run so I know which part of the game to not watch.
Posted by: bg | January 30, 2008 at 06:07 PM
BG... Talking of stereotypes, you have to love that final shot when the severe office chick with her hair in a bun shakes it out and turns into a hot babe!!! Never seen that fucker before. You know the "Dudes" at Draft were high fiving each other over that! Wanna bet she is now naked on Howards fucking cell phone?
Cheers/George
Posted by: George Parker | January 30, 2008 at 07:25 PM
Ah yes, another act of genius by everyone's favorite creative guru AND "father of the Rumble," Jonathan Harries...well, looking at this piece of shit there's no doubt that Harries is still gainfully employed at Draft/FCB and continually churning out derivative and very BAD ads. This ad just further demonstrates that Howard wouldn't know a good creative execution if it bit him in the ass...! Hey, Taco Bell, pay attention: there ARE real creative agencies out there - you just haven't hired one of them!!
Posted by: LAM | January 30, 2008 at 08:03 PM
brief, meetings, ideas, internal presentation, more ideas, meetings, the fight to get a script as far as to a client presentation, client approval, more meetings, production company, meetings, director, casting, shoot, post....an unbroken chain of....what.... exactly?
The TV commercial loving audience will roar...
Posted by: tore claesson | January 30, 2008 at 08:07 PM
Can anyone confirm if that was shot in Draft’s offices? 'cuz you know when you’re spending upwards of $2.7 per :30, you need to cut costs anywhere you can.
Posted by: bg | January 30, 2008 at 09:35 PM
I know we have two spots in the superbowl this year. I've seen one of them and the cut I saw was pretty awesome. This one is news to me, but that's not to say it isn't real, or ours.
Posted by: 100w33 | January 31, 2008 at 01:06 AM
@100w33-No, I mean actually shot inside the office.
Posted by: bg | January 31, 2008 at 06:49 AM
Horrifying.
Posted by: Ex-Draft emp | January 31, 2008 at 07:17 AM
I'm sort of shocke that no one on this blog - includng GP - understood what Harrie was trying to accomplsh here.
Judging from the racist and sexist steroetypes - neither of which could possibly have been created with serious intent - this has to a refractive post-retro take on Seventies advertising - as opposed to a traditional retro or post-retro take.
So in fact, DFCB has redefined the leading edge.
Posted by: j'accusi | January 31, 2008 at 09:27 AM
OR - it could just be ANOTHER SHIT PIECE OF SHIT SPOT FROM THOSE ...........ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: j'accusi | January 31, 2008 at 09:30 AM
Mother of God. Ever eat that crap? That stuff "retro's" out your keister with bells on. This is going to convince me to willingly disrupt my entire digestive system? Sing to me my mariachi friends, because I stupidly fell into a ring of burning fire. I'll be visiting a "super bowl" of a diffferent feather. Shit with a bow is packaged shit. I think I'll go pee on the third rail.
Posted by: Studio Maven | January 31, 2008 at 11:33 AM
And once I start capping off a few "odor grenades", that "hot chick" will either pass out or start high-tailing it to the emergency exit. Which means I let a highly paid team of morons convince me to spend money in order to both embarass and sicken myself. Wherever there's a chair, there's an ass.
Posted by: Studio Maven | January 31, 2008 at 11:48 AM
"It must have been done after a Jonathan Harries "Creative Rumble! O fucking le!"
That made me laugh so loud, I got looks from the office across the hall.
Posted by: Schrodinger's Copywriter | January 31, 2008 at 02:00 PM
Well...
What can I say? Any time I do a Draft/FCB Creative Rumble post, it certainly fires up the troops. But that's because these fuckers seem to go out of their way to produce SHIT... Even if you were tasked with producing the worst advertising ever... You couldn't come up with stuff this bad. It must require a very special talent. GET READY TO RUMBLE111
Cheers/George
Posted by: George Parker | January 31, 2008 at 08:27 PM
"That stuff "retro's" out your keister with bells on. This is going to convince me to willingly disrupt my entire digestive system? Sing to me my mariachi friends, because I stupidly fell into a ring of burning fire"
I'm no great fan of 'thinking outside the bun' - usually reserved for lake bed shoots in bumfuck, nowhere - but come on dude, when you eat fire, you poop fire. Even when it's good, there's a price to pay. You know what they say; when there's fire, there's fire.
I don't love this ad, and I hope it's not the final. All I would say is that it's a hairs breadth from being not too shabby, but the execution - largely edit, sound - could have been better.
George is right, his posts about us do seem to bring out the dick in you, regardless of appropriateness. Did I need to know about the fragile ecosystem that is your gastroplace? Not so much. Did you tell us? Kinda, yeah.
Best regards for your recovery.
ps, It's certainly not our NY offices, and from what I've seen of Chicago, it doesn't look a whole lot like that, either.
Posted by: 100w33 | January 31, 2008 at 11:41 PM
wherever it was shot, it is crap. maybe unfinished, but crap none the less.
completely predictable and expected, but that's exactly like the client. no one goes to eat there for a dining experience. j'accusi pinned the tail on the stereo-typed ass.
and despite the grand tour of the digestive process (thanks maven, i'll have nightmares now), the point is that will not really convince anyone to release their insides to the tender mercies of taco bell.
i miss the chihuahua. at least those were humorous. "here, lizard, lizard"
Posted by: the lower depths | February 01, 2008 at 05:26 AM
Well, shave my head and call me hip...I just don't know what all the fuss is about. You just gotta hand it to the d/fcb creative team for really going for it, ya know. I mean, why should GoDaddy! be the only one generating headlines for total tastelessness and neanderthal sensibility?
Posted by: Crawford | February 01, 2008 at 05:54 AM
Very disappointed the creatives couldn't figure out a way to include "Fourth Meal," the preggers broad shoveling gorditos down (poor fetus) and that little fucking rat dog.
When you have so many compelling points to make, you need to buy the :60.
To the creative team that developed this shit execution, "Think Outside The Pun."
Posted by: Zippy | February 01, 2008 at 08:33 AM
I though Taco Bell was handled by the L.A. office, which would make this even more unforgivable. Well, the writers must have been on strike for this one, and they just let a couple of junior art directors or support assistants concept the spot. "Hey, let's do the spot like our lives: run out for takeout and rush back for another meeting." Problem is 90% of America doesn't live a life so wasted, so Joe Blow pulling through the drivethrough won't identify. I wonder if this is going on the reel for the next agency Town Hall meeting to "rally the troops."
Posted by: Auntie Christ | February 01, 2008 at 08:40 AM
Don't eat it, won't buy it. I prefer brown rice or slow cooked oatmeal as a precursor to double shots of Jack Daniels/up. One has to know how to take care of one-self for the long haul.
As far as the town hall goes, I thought the video of dancing pencil segments with a guest spot by small balls of kneaded erasers teaming up to spell "creativity" was indeed the last straw for me.
Posted by: Studio Maven | February 01, 2008 at 02:24 PM
Don't eat it, won't buy it. I prefer brown rice or slow cooked oatmeal as a precursor to double shots of Jack Daniels/up. One has to know how to take care of one-self for the long haul.
As far as the town hall goes, I thought the video of dancing pencil segments with a guest spot by small balls of kneaded erasers teaming up to spell "creativity" was indeed the last straw for me.
Posted by: Studio Maven | February 01, 2008 at 02:25 PM
A friend of mine who works there said that he thought that the LA office of DFCB died years ago. He thinks that Taco Bell is done out of their SF or Irvine offices now. He also told me that the NY office does have 2 spots in the Superbowl: 1 for Planters and 1 for the ONDCP...
Posted by: adman | February 02, 2008 at 07:33 AM
Taco Bell was always handled out of the Chicago office....the "hub of creativity" where Jonathan Harries holds court....
You're right, Adman, the D/FCB LA office DID die years ago....which is hardly a surprise.
Posted by: LAM | February 02, 2008 at 08:45 AM