News
Taco Bell PR stunt hopes to revive $2 bill
June 8, 2010
Taco Bell has launched a campaign to bring more $2 bills into circulation as part of a publicity stunt to support its $2 Dollar Deals. The campaign includes a petition sweepstakes on its Facebook page and a full page ad in today's USA Today addressing the Federal Reserve.
The company invites consumers to sign the petition posted on the "$2 Dollar Deal" tab of its Facebook page.By signing the petition, consumers are entered into the "$2 Meal Deal Appeal" sweepstakes, which offers more than 450 prizes given away via random drawings now until Aug. 13.
Prizes include a variety of Taco Bell novelty items, including Taco Bell taco sauce packet key chains or flash drives, taco hats and a laptop cover. Other prizes include Taco Bell Border Bucks and monetary prizes. Those prizes include:
- 100 $5 Taco Bell Border Bucks
- 12 $2 a day for a month (presented as a $60 check)
- One $2 a day for a year (presented as a $730 check)
- One Taco Bell for a year (presented as $550 in Taco Bell Bucks)
The public relations campaign also includes a public letter to the Federal Reserve calling on the government agency to circulate more $2 bills to celebrate Taco Bell's $2 Meal Deal.
The Federal Reserve prints all denominations according to demand. However, the $2 bill has not been in demand and production of the note is the lowest of U.S. paper money at less than 1 percent of all bills printed. The last year the $2 bill was printed was 2006.
While older generations of Americans treat the $2 bill with reverence, giving them as gifts or keeping them for good luck, younger generations have yet to discover it — and Taco Bell hopes to help them. The scarcity of the $2 bill in circulation and the lack of public awareness for it have inspired urban legends about its existence.
The petition provides a unique way for Taco Bell fans to be introduced to the $2 bill or get reacquainted with it via the $2 Meal Deal campaign. It also allows Taco Bell to engage and reward its 1.1 million Facebook fans for their continued brand loyalty.
The letter reads in part:
This summer, more than ever, Americans are searching for value. Here's our solution:Cooler than a $5. Twice as powerful as a $1. And thanks to our new $2 Meal Deal, only at Taco Bell can Americans get three items for two bucks. Think Outside the Buns.Which is why we're writing to you today. ... Taco Bell is asking the Federal Reserve to circulate more $2 bills (millions of them, if you can).As we head into the summer season, please help us better serve the American consumer by circulating more $2 bills.We'll be happy to discuss this in-person. We'll bring the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, Doritos and Pepsi. You bring the Jeffersons.
"In being the first in the QSR industry to offer our customers three items for $2, we want to rally the nation around the new buying power of $2," said David Ovens, CMO, Taco Bell Corp., in a news release. "The petition is not only a celebration of Taco Bell redefining the meaning of value in the industry, but the value of $2."
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