Taco Bell on sub-$1 meals: "Value is the core part of our DNA"
USA Today has a poll today on who's value meal would you buy: Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's or Taco Bell.
Burger King will announce Friday plans to introduce 11 menu items — from burgers to salads — that will sell for 99 cents each. The move comes at the same time McDonald's is gearing up to introduce over the next two months a similar $1 menu, including its Big 'N' Tasty burger and McChicken sandwiches.
These are not one-time promotions. They are permanent menu items. With sales stagnant at many of the big chains, the need to drive new business is clear. And the magnitude of the response is unlike any the $105 billion industry has seen in years.
My college classmate Chris Miller's in charge of advertising at Taco Bell which came up with the concept of the sub-$1 value meal in 1990 with 59-cent tacos, burritos and tostadas and a few 79-cent and 99-cent items.
Today, Taco Bell has 14 menu items less than $1, including a 99-cent Double Decker taco and 69-cent bean burrito.
"We defined what value was," says Greg Creed, chief marketing officer at Taco Bell. "Value is the core part of our DNA."