How Taco Bell Created Fast-Food’s Most Viral Moment of the Year

Doja Cat’s iconic collaboration with Taco Bell is a wild unicorn of brand partnerships. After the rapper tweeted at the fast food chain to bring back the Mexican Pizza, a brand partnership of epic proportions was born, rooted in transparency and genuine fan connection.

Taco Bell, Deutsch LA, and Doja Cat’s team joined Adweek at Whalar House during Cannes Lions for a seaside chat to share the meaty details of the collaboration.

Unleashing a cultural whirlwind

According to Taylor Montgomery, Taco Bell’s U.S. CMO, removing the beloved Mexican Pizza from the menu sparked an unexpected outcry from fans.

“We made the decision to pull the pizza off the menu, and then about five days later all hell broke loose. It was an absolute shitstorm,” he said. “The learning for us as a brand is, ‘You really gotta listen.’ If we weren’t really in touch—it wasn’t just like people were griping; you could really feel the emotion. Then Doja Cat started to pop up as a part of that. We learned that we didn’t just delete a product, we deleted a part of the brand—a part of the brand’s soul that a lot of people love.”

From this uproar, an opportunity arose. Montgomery and his team quickly rallied to strategize how they could reintroduce the fan favorite item. A cultural whirlwind ensued, complete with a jingle from Doja; a like TikTok performance of Mexican Pizza: The Musical; and millions of TikTok duets from creators worldwide.

The campaign reaped a feast of results. Sales of the pizza skyrocketed 900%, engagement with the brand soared, and fans were elated to see their beloved Taco Bell pizza back on the menu.  

The power of brand understanding

Reflecting on the campaign and how it moved at the speed of culture, Kim Getty, CEO of Deutsch LA, recognized that rallying the troops to get everyone at the brand, agency and beyond on board could have been a struggle for some. She applauded the campaign collaborators for knowing their audience and what works for them and their brand. Getty said this resulted in an effortless campaign.

“The confidence with which the brand knows itself allowed it to be sold pretty simply,” she said. “When you know yourself, you know how to behave. You know you can play and banter and take a little hot criticism from someone like Doja, and that’s going to build your brand.”

Nick Pacelli, head of brand for Canadian record label Salxco and founder of Kindly Agency, agreed. He said most of the great things that happened in this campaign weren’t in a contract or negotiated—they happened organically.

“We didn’t go off a script of contract or deliverables,” he said. “We went off what we were feeling collectively and what was right. What the fans were learning and, honestly, what Doja was doing. She was lighting little forest fires everywhere, and then [Taco Bell] was squirting gasoline on it, and these things were ripping, and if it was hitting we would lean in and more, and if it wasn’t we moved on to the next part of the narrative.”

Playing the villain

Gordan Dillard, co-founder of Good Day Mgmt and Doja Cat’s manager, said that leading with authenticity allowed Taco Bell to take bold risks, positioning themselves as the bad guy, a move that further fueled fan interest and engagement.

“It became a villain story almost, and even those who weren’t interested in the actual product became interested in the story,” he said. “So they bought into the story, which in turn bought into both brands and everybody.”