Our goal was to launch Taco Bell into the breakfast category and to make a brand known for late-night, become a part of people’s morning routine. The strategy was to take the QSR breakfast leader, McDonald’s, head-on to create a two-horse race in order to catapult Taco Bell into the category and conversation.

To create a two-horse race, we begun by co-opting McDonald’s iconic mascot and put his namesake to work for us. We gathered together 23 real people named Ronald McDonald, had them try Taco Bell's new breakfast and asked them what they thought. They loved it and told the world via a :30 TV spot. National and local media fueled the war with three billion media impressions in the first 48 hours alone.

We launched the campaign on TV, online and in cinema. Three TV spots launched the campaign, one anthem, one for the Waffle Taco and a third for the A.M. Crunchwrap, which aired in key placements such as NCAA Playoffs, morning talk shows and late night. In the two days following the launch, we capitalized on the share-ability of the TV ads by monitoring social media, and with the help of two of our Ronald McDonalds, timely responded to hundreds of Tweets with personalized video responses. A week later, we launch the behind the scenes video on YouTube that reignited the conversation and accounted for an additional two million views to date.

The launch garnered massive press attention, set sales records and established Taco Bell as the strongest contender in the crowded QSR breakfast category.