News

Taco Bell campaign puts young scholars in the director's chair

March 23, 2017

Taco Bell is launching its Feed a Dream promotion and charitable campaign today, the fifth anniversary of the Doritos Locos Taco. The two-week-long campaign donates 10 cents for each à la carte Doritos Locos Taco purchased, up to $500,000, to the Taco Bell Foundation’s Live Mas Scholarship, according to a company press release. 

The campaign brings a new approach to Taco Bell’s marketing and advertising by enlisting Live Más Scholarship recipients to create TV ads, as well as taco  packaging. It ends in a national marketing campaign to support the goals of Live Más Scholarship recipients and connect them with top professionals in their study areas. 

"Beneath all our creativity and irreverence is a company with a beautiful heart," Taco Bell CMO Marisa Thalberg said in a  news release. "As we continue to grow the Live Más Scholarship program, our vision is that it becomes 'for the kids, by the kids.' In that spirit, all of the communications you will see for this Feed a Dream initiative were either created or inspired by our first class of Live Más Scholarship recipients."
 
Students who helped create the campaign went to a Chicago creative workshop to learn from advertising pros about concepts and commercial scripting. Scholars also helped film the ad in California for its initial airing on March 26 nationally. 

"Not only was I invited to help come up with the Feed a Dream ad, but my artwork is also being used for the Doritos Locos Taco holsters," 22-year-old recipient Devon Woodrum said in the news release "When I first applied to the Live Más Scholarship, I never imagined it would mean so much more than the money — I’m getting access to all of these unbelievable opportunities and experiences that are helping me advance my passion and career."
 
Live Mas Scholarships go to students whose goals don't fit in the traditional academic or athletic scholarship boxes, to create real-world opportunities for helping achieve their dreams. To promote the Feed a Dream campaign, diners can head to Taco Bell from March 23 to April 8, buy an à la carte Doritos Locos Taco, share a photo about it with #FeedADream hashtag. Those proceeds will pay for  $1.3 million in 2017 scholarships to 155 students.