Have you heard the news? The Mexican Pizza is finally back at Taco Bell, andthis time, it’s permanent! The restaurant has apparently solved thesupply chain issuesthat led to the Mexican Pizza’s demise in 2020 andbrought the damn thing back for goodinMay 2022, though ithad to go away againsoon afterwhen the chain ran through its supply due to high demand. This week, the Mexican Pizza has officially returned to the menuagain, for good,and is now even being advertisedon the site’s homepageunder the banner, “MEXICAN PIZZA FOREVER.”While the news is probably excitingfor many of you, I’m sure a lot of you are feeling something else: fatigue.
Don’t worry, fast food current events give us whiplash too. (Chasingrumorscan be about as mentally exhausting as you’d imagine.) So let’s face the inevitable together:Now that the Mexican Pizza is back, it’s a simplefact that the collectiveenthusiasm surroundingthis menu itemwill fade away.
Taco Bell isnotoriousfor doing the snatch-and-grab with its limited-time-only items,theNacho Fries chief among them; I roll my eyes whenever I seeyet another announcementheralding theirreturn. The Taco Bellmarketing machine is excellent at hyping seemingly random itemslike chicken wingsandtacosandBig Cheez-Its. We know this stuff is always in the works, we just don’t know when they will arrive or how long they’ll stay. It’s hard being kept on tenterhooks 24/7.
Yet despite the hype cycle, Istill manage toget a kick out of the anticipation surrounding this kind of stuff, because, well, I’m a human being. I like having things to look forward to, like surprise record drops by musicians and fanfare surrounding video games (GoldenEyeiscoming backand 13-year-old me can’t be more excited). Food marketing is no different.
Something our minds allow us to forget between drops is that most new fast food items are only okay at best. We know thisall too well. But the circus surroundingthem isas much a part of pop culture as anticipated movies, games, and sporting events. TheBTSMcDonald’s meal was no more than a Chicken McNugget value meal withtwo new sauces, butthe excitement it brought the public wasgenuinely meaningful. Was I really excited about two sauces? No way. I already knew they’d be either too sweet, too salty, or both. But fora proud Korean American, the success of thepromotion hitdifferent.
So yeah, the food is rarely life-changing, but I’m not going to deny the fun of it all. Thedemise of the Choco Tacowas a huge day atTakeoutHQ. Will the Choco Taco be making a comeback? I don’t know for sure, but follow the money—if Unilever senses enough demand, then we can expect to start seeing cheeky, cryptic postson officialsocial media pagesthat hint at “big news” in advance of National Taco Day. It is then thatthe cycle will begin anew.
All this orchestrated food marketing drama is obviously planned out and depended uponby corporations for sales and brand narratives. I know my part in this ecosystem, and it’s important to acknowledge (especiallysince it’s my job). Amidthemanufactured chaos of thesecancellations and resurrections, our attention never wavers, becausethere’s an edibleprize at the end of the day—something wecan actually sink ourteeth into. Butthe second we do, the thrill of the chase dissipates, leaving us to find the next diversion.