Taco Bell Features Dress Made Of Wrappers In Ad For Hot New Menu Item
What do you do when someone gives you a stack of 500 unused Taco Bell wrappers? If you’re Olivia Mears, you add some imagination, talent, and skill, and you make a dress out of them. Then, you enter it into a contest — and win.
Taco Bell is known for fresh and catchy advertising campaigns. In fact, their business relies on it. Back in 2012, they ran the “Live Mas to Win Mas” contest, asking Facebook followers to submit photos of how they “live mas,” featuring an image of their then-new menu item, the Doritos Locos Taco.
Mears created an entry using her talent for transforming trash into art, particularly dresses and costumes. The prom-style dress constructed of over 300 Taco Bell wrappers, features a hot sauce packet-adorned sweetheart neckline, and bustier-style bodice over a tiered Taco Bell taco wrapper skirt.
When Taco bell decided to launch their new ad campaign spotlighting a new line of innovative edibles enhanced with spicy sriracha hot sauce, they went back to their fans for inspiration.
The Sriracha Quesarito is the first item in the sriracha line to roll out, and is the focus of their Fanspiration 2015 Taco Bell Sriracha Quesarito commercial, which is a compilation of Taco Bell connoisseurs showing off both their loyalty to the Taco Bell brand and their love of sriracha chili sauce.
Featured in the commercial is Mears, modeling her dress, as well as a claymation artist constructing a mini Taco Bell meal — complete with drink and custom Taco Bell rings that were, according to USA Today,distributed by Taco Bell to a select few social media followers and featured in a number of Instagram posts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2xhdiJ3WGc
This isn’t the only contest Mears has entered and won. In fact, she is an accomplished costume and dress designer, and a recent graduate of Western Carolina University, with degrees in fine arts and education.
In addition to the Taco Bell contest, she entered and won Schick’s “Put A Ribbon On It” contest, constructing another dress completely out of ribbon and glue, and entered an elaborate gown made entirely of toilet paper, glue, and tape in the “Cheap Chic Weddings” Toilet Paper Dress’ contest sponsored by Charmin.
In an interview with WLOS ABC 13, Mears expressed her excitement of starring in the Taco Bell commercial, and her desire to continue creating artistic fashions. “Maybe one day I can make costumes for Lady Gaga and Katy Perry,” she said.
Taco Bell hopes that Mears’ success rubs off on the launch of their new line. According to a report in Daily Finance, Yum Brands has missed the mark the last three quarters on projected earnings, but Taco Bell has seen substantial promotional success in the past, and hopes their latest effort will boost sales.
The Doritos Locos Taco ad campaign that inspired the dress made of Taco Bell wrappers also spurred significant product sales. Taco Bell has sold more than a billion Taco Bell Doritos Locos Tacos since the launch of the product three years ago.
[Image via TacoBell/YouTube]
