This is LOCO!!!!

Dorito Loco!!!

No Thank you, take  it back please!

Taco Bell asks Toledo to judge its new taco

Test begins for item with Doritos shell

BY JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

Taco Bell is using Toledo as its test market for the Doritos Loco Tacos. - The Blade/Jeremy Wadsworth

Long known for its glass-making prowess, a world-class art museum, and Jeep, the Toledo area soon could have another claim to fame -- birthplace of a taco made with Doritos corn chips.
Fast-food chain Taco Bell has begun testing a new menu product, the Doritos Locos Tacos, exclusively in the Toledo area this month, with plans to introduce the item nationally if it pans out with customers. In an effort to get Toledoans to render a firm opinion on the new taco, the Irvine, Calif.-based chain even has resorted to a television advertising blitz this past week, alerting local customers of the test trial.
The ads even send up a zinger at the city of Columbus, making fun of the fact that it isn't getting the Doritos Locos Taco.
"I had a cat-eating-the-canary smile when I heard that punch line [about Columbus]," said Jim Rush, senior vice president and partner at Communica Inc., a Toledo marketing firm.
A spokesman for Taco Bell, which is owned by Yum! Brands Inc. of Louisville, declined to reveal much about the Doritos Locos taco, saying that too much information about the chain's intentions might spoil test results. The spokesman confirmed that the test had begun just recently and would continue for an indefinite period.
However, according to the ads, the menu item sells for $1.29 and resembles the chain's taco supreme menu item, but the shell is made with Doritos chips and has a cheese-flavored powdered coating. Yum! Brands has a partnership with Doritos' maker, Frito-Lay.
Toledo has been used as a test market by many companies or organizations, including Taco Bell. In 2007, Taco Bell used Toledo as one of four test markets for a new breakfast menu.
In 2004, Boston Market made Toledo a test market for home delivery, and in 2000, the milk industry used Toledo to test a spill-proof, pitcher-shaped milk jug.
Mr. Rush, a marketing expert for 25 years who spent part of his career on the West Coast, said Toledo is well-known as a kind of everyman-town that makes it perfect for test marketing.
"We have a nice cross section of demographics -- age groups, gender, and CEOs to line workers," Mr. Rush said. "I would say also that the thing about the people here is that we're sincere, but I would also say we are very honest in how we go about things. For us to part with a dollar, we have to be provided with some value or gratification."
Toledo also is known in the restaurant industry as a town that enjoys dining out as a major form of entertainment, and Mr. Rush said Taco Bell likely knows that. "It's going to play elsewhere if it plays well in Toledo."
Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.