Taco Bell Going Loco For Frito Taco Shell?

You can see it in the picture above, but what does it mean?

According to The Kitchenette, Taco Bell looks like it will expand its selection of taco shell flavors. The picture above was used at a YUM! Brands conference by Taco Bell. This is similar to how Taco Bell pictured Nacho-Flavored Doritos and Cool Ranch Doritos in ads when announcing the new shells, with a taco in a chips bag.

Though the picture shows this, Taco Bell has experimented with Fritos before by placing the chips in burritos. They have done this twice: the Beefy Fritos Burrito, and the Beefy Crunch Burrito with Flamin’ Hot Fritos inside.

Now, this opens up a few questions. Will Taco Bell be using the chips inside or as the shell? Will they be using different Fritos flavors, such as Chili Cheese? If they stay with plain, aren’t they just using corn tortilla chips to make corn tortilla shells, which is what they use anyway?

When asked by Business Insider about the new ad, a Taco Bell spokeswoman said, “We’re always innovating and testing new concepts.”

Taco Bell has been adding and creating new items for their menu, from Waffle Tacos to Beef Fritos Burritos to Cinnabon Delights to a signature flavor of Mountain Dew, Baja Blast. Even Subway used them, stuffing Fritos into a Cheesy Chicken sandwich.

Some do feel that the “misplaced” slide was more strategic than accident. Taco Bell, as a business, has been one of the more innovative and creative businesses out there. This does look to be a boon to not only Taco Bell, but to Frito-Lay (owner of Fritos) and Pepsi Co., Fritos parent company. It is possible that it is a stunt.

Bustle reports that Taco Bell is working in the right direction, having sold over one hundred billion Doritos Locos Tacos. A report states that enough of the three flavors (nacho, cool ranch and fiery hot) tacos have been sold that if you lined all of the tacos end to end, you could line them up from New York to Los Angeles 37 times. Try washing that down with a Baja Blast.

In the end, what has the customer gained? Think of it this way: It’s a really big, folded chip with an appropriate amount of seven-layer dip in the middle. Again, no official word has come forth, so it remains to be seen. But, since it’s Taco Bell, it should be interesting.

[Image courtesy of YUM! Brands]