Only in Tucson: The “Taco Lover’s Pass"

From The Atlantic

It Has Come to Subscription Tacos

Even Taco Bell is a tech company now.

(Animated Image Credit: Adam Maida / The Atlantic)

By Saahil Desai

"I like to think of America’s fast-food chains as a bunch of dysfunctional family members. McDonald’s is the golden boy, the kid who’s good at everything and won’t shut up about it. Burger King is the jealous younger brother. KFC is perhaps the cousin who still wears cargo shorts. And then, there’s Taco Bell: fast food’s problem child.  

The purveyor of fluorescent nacho cheese is just plain weird. I’m not simply talking about those tacos with Doritos for shells. This is a brand that reportedly spent $500 million on an ad campaign featuring Gidget, a talking chihuahua with the catchphrase “Yo quiero Taco Bell!” A completely real tagline on Taco Bell’s webpage for its fountain drinks reads: “Taco Bell Cups, Matryoshka Dolls, and the Multiplicity of Human Existence.” (It only gets weirder from there.)

Alas, Taco Bell is at it again. This month, the brand announced the “Taco Lover’s Pass,” which lets you get exactly one taco every single day for 30 days with a subscription that costs $5 to $10, depending on the store. Right now, Taco Bell is trial-running the service in 17 locations in Tucson, Arizona, and there are lots of caveats: The only way to become a certified Taco Lover is by buying the pass through the Taco Bell app; no, sorry, the Chalupa Supreme is not part of the deal. A company spokesperson told me that “there’s no guarantee” the subscription service will become available nationwide, “but when it comes to Taco Bell innovation, we never say never.”

READ MORE: By Saahil Desai The Atlantic