Turns out that Taco Bell, back in January, had used focus groups operated by Q & A Research to shape the idea for a rip-off of the fast food drive-thru meme. I got in touch with Matt Whitlock, who participated in one of the focus groups—most interesting is that the producers actually took the feedback to heart and reshot the commercial:
The next clip was actually with actors and it was more along the lines of what is played on TV right now, and people said the same thing, but we gave our input. We said it would be better if it looked like it was a YouTube video, like bad quality, amateur film, because the one they showed us was all professionally shot. I brought up the McDonald's rap that I saw on YouTube, and the lady laughed because the next clip she showed was that exact commercial. I actually told them they should have found the original people and paid them to do the Taco Bell rap-commercial!
It was only a matter of time before some big corporation caught wind of the drive-thru rap video phenomenon, previously covered here on Serious Eats back in April. Drive-thru rap videos on YouTube date back to 2006 but only recently have hit the mainstream. The basic premise: People drive up to the drive thru, usually with a friend providing beat-box, and rap with intentionally difficult-to-parse orders to confuse the employees on the other end of the intercom—the whole affair videotaped and uploaded to YouTube for all to see.
Now, Taco Bell (or an ad agency working for them) has co-opted the meme, keeping the appearance of a homemade video but adding pretty glossed up close-ups of the food—and sanitizing it of its humor, spontaneity, and originality. Some might say homage, I say rip-off.
Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, the Taco Bell commercial has created a feedback loop of sorts: The drive-thru rap video meme has reached a whole new, national audience, and new videos have appeared on YouTube likely drawing inspiration from the rip-off itself.
After the jump, the commercial, as well as some of the original inspirations.
At first I felt bad that I couldn't understand what the lyrics of this rap were, but then neither could the McDonald's employees on the other end of the intercom. So the customers rapped again. And again. At different speeds. Hopefully after those few tries, the order made sense. ("Extra salt on the frizzle," anyone?)
Watch the video, after the jump. It's not much visually, but it's funny to listen to the song interrupted by questions from the confused employees. [via Indablog]
Chang leads a crew of like-minded foodslingers, each of which he wants to help make a star in his own right. Hip-hop mastermind RZA did the same with the Wu, helping O.D.B., Ghostface, Method Man, Raekwon, etc., spin off successful solo careers.
