Depending on whom you ask, Taco Bell's strategy of launching popular items only to bringing them back a few weeks later is either brilliant or annoying.
While it helps to generate excitement around certain limited-time promotions, fan frustration with the back-and-forth around the Mexican Pizza has reached a fever pitch this summer.
Yum! Brands (YUM)-owned Taco Bell initially brought it back after over 175,000 people launched Change.org petition demanding its return but, after underestimating supply and running out of ingredients at many locations, had to once again remove it from the menu.
"Thats great! I hope you have enough supplies this time!" one Twitter (TWTR) user wrote snarkily over Taco Bell's announcement that the Mexican Pizza would be coming back for good in the fall.
Many others took to social media to express their skepticism and discontent.
Who Remembers The Enchirito?
While brands often underestimate the popularity of a given item and have to change discontinuation plans amid pitchforks after the fact (see the Choco Taco), more and more chains have been enlisting fans in its menu process to great success.
This time, Taco Bell is asking fans to vote on which of two discontinued items it should bring back to the menu for a limited time later this year — the Double Decker Taco or the Enchirito.
The Double Decker Taco was launched in 1995 but became a permanent menu item in 2006.
Taco Bell
Featured in a series of commercials with basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, it was around for 13 years before getting discontinued in 2019. The "double decker" refers to the layer of crunchy tortilla and layer of fried beans placed between a regular soft tortilla.
The Enchirito, in turn, is a play on words referring to fusing a burrito and an enchilada — a soft flour tortilla is filled with beef and beans and topped with cheddar cheese and traditional enchilada red sauce.
It is a Taco Bell classic that has been around on and off since the 1970s but was permanently discontinued in 2013.
The Enchirito has also been subject to various Change.org petitions but, as it has had more time to fade into fast food lore and memory, those are significantly smaller than what was seen with Mexican Pizza.
Fans Will Dictate The Menu
"On the heels of the love and passion we saw for Mexican Pizza, we wanted to continue elevating the voices of our most loyal fans by giving them exclusive access to a uniquely digital experience that fosters brand love," Taco Bell Chief Brand Officer Sean Tresvant said in a statement.
To decide either item's fate, one can log into the Taco Bell app and vote on which item they'd rather see return between Sept. 27 and Oct. 7.
By having the vote take place exclusively in the app, Taco Bell is one of many chains that is using exclusive offers and promotions to get more people to download their apps and order through them.
Once the votes are tallied, the winning item will appear in the app and certain Taco Bell locations on Oct. 7.
The details on when or for how long the winner will come back have not yet been revealed but it will hit Taco Bell's menus before the end of 2022.
"Nobody gets Taco Bell more than our community so we’re thrilled to empower them with this in-app voting experience that allows them to have a direct impact on our menu," Tresvant said.
