Real Employees, Real Seasoned Beef, Unreal Offer

There has been a lot of talk about Taco Bell’s seasoned beef lately. The employees, restaurant managers and franchisees who serve more than 36.8 million customers each week at Taco Bell restaurants across the country are coming together to share the facts about the ingredients in its seasoned beef recipe.

Starting this week, Taco Bell will launch its "Talk” campaign, an integrated national marketing effort that includes :30 and :15 television spots, terrestrial and internet radio ads, online keyword buys and social media support, as well as Hispanic broadcast spots. The commercials feature actual Taco Bell employees, restaurant managers and franchisees—representing the more than 150,000 team members and 350 franchise operators—sharing the straight facts about Taco Bell’s seasoned beef.

Like all U.S. beef, our 100 percent premium beef is USDA inspected, and then passes our 20 quality checkpoints. Then we add water for moisture, along with our signature blend of authentic seasonings, spices, and other ingredients - much the same way you prepare taco meat at home. After cooking, we remove and drain off excess fat.

In the ads, an employee states "Our seasoned beef is 88 percent premium ground beef and 12 percent signature recipe. If you want to see that signature recipe, go to tacobell.com. It’s right there.” Taco Bell’s website includes detailed information regarding its seasoned beef recipe of 88 percent beef and 12 percent seasonings, spices, water, and other ingredients. The role of these ingredients is explained in a frequently-asked-questions section on the site, and nutritional information and the complete seasoned beef signature recipe are also included.

"As a third-generation franchisee of the Taco Bell brand, I’m extremely proud of the food we serve and want everyone to know exactly what’s in our seasoned beef,” said Kyle Cook, Restaurant General Manager of Lord and Cook Ventures, a Taco Bell franchisee who is featured in the ad. "These ads show real employees who serve our food everyday and are passionate about the quality of our seasoned beef.”

The ads also include an offer for an $.88 Crunchwrap Supreme—symbolic as it’s the same percent of premium ground beef used in our seasoned beef recipe. The offer is available at participating locations between February 27, 2011 through March 5, 2011. Limit two per person per visit. Prices may vary. The regular suggested price for the Crunchwrap Supreme is $2.39.

"When we first learned of the beef lawsuit, we immediately launched an online campaign and newspaper ads with the headline ‘Thank You for Suing Us’ and shared the recipe of our seasoned beef to set the record straight. Next, to thank our Facebook community of our most loyal customers, we offered them a free Crunchy Beef Taco,” said David Ovens, Chief Marketing Officer, Taco Bell. "We're pleased that according to our research, the customers who saw these responses have reacted favorably. However, there are still many people who haven't heard our beef quality facts. We want all our customers to know the truth and we’re taking swift action with our ‘Talk’ campaign.”

The "Talk” Script reads:

EMPLOYEE 1: There’s been a lot of talk about our seasoned beef.

EMPLOYEE 2: But here’s the whole truth.

EMPLOYEE 3: Our seasoned beef is 88 percent premium ground beef and 12 percent signature recipe.

EMPLOYEE 1: If you want to see that signature recipe, go to tacobell.com. It’s right there.

EMPLOYEE 2: But if you want to know what that TASTES like, go to Taco Bell and get a Crunchwrap Supreme for only 88¢.

EMPLOYEE 3: You heard ‘em, 88¢ for a Crunchwrap Supreme.

EMPLOYEE 1: 88¢. This week only.

EMPLOYEE 2: Let ‘em talk about that.

To view the :30 television spot, visit the Taco Bell YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/tacobell. To access all the television spots, please visit http://pwrnewmedia.com/2011/taco_bell/beef_grade/index.html.

About Taco Bell Corp.

Taco Bell Corp. ("Taco Bell"), a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE:YUM), is the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, signature quesadillas, Grilled Stuft Burritos, nachos, and other specialty items such as Crunchwrap Supreme®, in addition to the Why Pay More!® Value Menu. Taco Bell serves more than 36.8 million consumers each week in nearly 5,600 restaurants in the U.S.