Breed clubs often cringe when a movie comes out featuring their breed. Call it the “101 Dalmatians Syndrome” for the Dal’s surge in popularity following the release of the original movie, and the remake. Dalmatian toys were fine, but many were given as gifts by people who hadn’t done their homework, and sadly, the number of unwanted Dalmatians rose once owners realized they were poorly matched.
It doesn’t always happen, of course. A Puli appeared in both a Budweiser and Dr. Pepper commercial, and happily, a run on the breed didn’t happen.
Still, there can be unexpected consequences when a breed becomes popular, and not all of the have to do with a demand for puppies. The “Taco Bell” Chihuahua could be a case study in things that can go wrong.
In 1997, Taco Bell used a Chihuahua as a “one off” character in a single commercial that aired only in Northeastern states. It was so overwhelmingly popular that Taco Bell built a series of ads around the dog. The first Chihuahua to appear as the “spokesman” was played by a dog named, “Binky,” but for reasons we’ve not found, he was quickly replaced by a Chihuahua named “Gidget.” The rest is history: The catchphrase, “Yo quiero Taco Bell” (voiced by voice-over artist Carlos Alazraqui) became a pop-culture punch line (as did “Drop the chalupa!”), and Chihuahua-mania swept America. Toy figures of the dog were produced, and Chihuahua owners endured “Taco Bell dog” jokes.
And then Taco Bell did something odd. It abruptly pulled the ads in 2000 causing people to became suspicious enough to start rumors. Some said that the Chihuahua had died, while jokesters suggested the dog was being served in gordita form to customers, a real problem for a chain whose biggest problem had been convincing customers that their beef was graded for human consumption.
The bottom line tends to be the reason behind most things done in marketing. Taco Bell’s ads were cut because of a 6 percent drop in sales (the largest decline in Taco Bell history). Profits were so bad that the president of Taco Bell was quickly replaced by a former executive at Wendy’s. But things were going to get worse. TV commercials showing the dog decked out as a beret-sporting revolutionary or a bandit in a sombrero deeply offended Latinos for what they felt was a stereotypical, and derogatory depiction of Mexicans. Some sources we found mentioned that Hispanic advocacy groups that had lobbied for the end of the campaign is what really led to the cancellation of the Taco Bell dog ads, but we couldn’t find anything to substantiate that. It wouldn’t have mattered. Things were still about to get worse for Taco Bell.
In 2003, a long legal battle ended between Taco Bell and two Michigan men who claimed that the company had stolen their idea of a Spanish-speaking Chihuahua. The men claimed the Taco Bell executives had signed a contract with them only to back out of the deal and steal the idea for themselves, and a jury agreed with them. The men were awarded $42 million in damages. $42 million. Sigh. That would fix a few problems.
In a story with so many horror stories (from a business standpoint), there was one bright spot. When the ads stopped running in 2000, it freed up “Gidget,” the Chihuahua, to appear in other venues, the movies, “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde,” and the Geico insurance ad among them.
Polynesian Chihuahua by Huebucket. This fun print is available in many formats here.