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Taco Bell's effort to 'liberate' Taco Tuesday nationwide comes to fruition (www.nrn.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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[–] 88 points 2 years ago (6 children)

I see this as a win. It's absurd that anyone can own the term Taco Tuesday. It's literally a noun and a day of the week

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    I'm really surprised that this is the top post here.

    It's not just a noun and a day of the week. It's a noun and a day of the week used to formally sell tacos.

    This is Taco Bell using its size and wealth to take something from smaller players so that it could make money with it.

    And the smallest players have always had absolutely nothing to worry about. Part of trademark law is that you must defend it. That can be just a letter.

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    [–] 61 points 2 years ago

    It’s Tuesday.

    I know how I’m celebrating.

    But not at Taco Hell.

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    [–] 39 points 2 years ago

    My favorite bar here in town has a letter from Taco John's framed on the wall explaining why they had to change the name of their weekly taco special.

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    [–] 22 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Because of their prices I'd basically given up on Taco Bell except for the value menu. But now every item that was $1 jumped to $1.5 (and everything else went up with it) so I'm cutting out Taco Bell completely. A few months back one of their limited time offers was $5 but when ordered à la carte was $12.47 -- that kinda revealed just how (unreasonably) skewed their profit margins must be.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It used to be $5-10 to feel gross and full, now it's $15-20 and takes 15 minutes both inside or drive through. I haven't been back in a couple years because of price and incompetence, there's better options for cheaper and quicker. Sheetz the gas station has been nailing Amerimexican for years if you're north east.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Taco Bell has stayed the cheapest food place for as long as I've known.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's like $12 for a crunchwrap meal in my super low CoL town. Wemdy's still has their $5 buggie bag. I used to love Taco Bell but it now costs more than freaking Chipotle.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    $5.69 for a crunchwrap in my relatively high CoL town. $5.99 for a "build your own cravings box" that's kinda like a biggie bag but maybe slightly less food and the specialty item can be a crunchwrap.

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    [–] 18 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    In Scandinavia it's Taco Friday. Who has the rights to that? Who needs to get sued? Who should we be mad at?

    As far as I know, nobody. They understand the social good. And they celebrate it with tacos promptly when the workday ends at 4 PM.

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    [–] 13 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Alert the Munch Squad.

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    • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Fuck Taco Bell. Taco Bell only won because Taco John's didn't have deep enough pockets to defend the trademarked term they legally had.

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  • [–] 53 points 2 years ago (14 children)

    No, Taco Bell won because WHO THE FUCK IS TACO JOHN'S AND WHY THE FUCK DO THEY OWN TACO TUESDAY?

    Did you know that two companies had ownership of that trademark? Does anyone associate "Taco Tuesday" with anything but being alliterative? Do people immediately think of Taco John's or Gregory's when they hear "Taco Tuesday?"

    No.

    They probably think of every elementary school that had a Taco Tuesday at least once a month. They probably think of the Lego Movie. They probably think they're hilarious and just made it up for the first time.

    Even if you knew of Taco John's and knew they had Taco Tuesday, did you know that it was their trademark?

    Taco John's did not relinquish the mark because they couldn't fight it. They relinquished it for the same reason Gregory's did... they knew their claim to the mark was MINIMAL at best and it would be trivial to show common usage of the term that would render it generic.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    I actually do think of Taco John's when I think of Taco Tuesday because that was their big special thing for decades.

    But I also don't care if 'Taco Tuesday' is something you can trademark. If Taco Bell wants to use it, fine.

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  • [–] 48 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    They should have never been granted the trademark based on prioriry. They did not coin or use the term first. They are not fighting because they know they wouldn't survive a challenge which is why they just bullied small shops who themselves didn't have the pockets to defend themselves.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I don't think that's what happened? Based on this article and another one I read, it seems that now the Taco Tuesday trademark is relinquished meaning anyone can use it. I'm guessing taco bell would rather everyone be able to use it including them rather than it being locked down by someone who's not them.

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  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Indeed that was the case:

    According to The Strange History of Taco Tuesday, the promotional phrase was started in 1982 by a chain called Taco John’s based out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. In fact, Taco John’s placed a registered trademark on the phrase in 1989 to attach it to their brand. They filed a lawsuit against another restaurant chain after seeing that it was used, but the lawsuit resulted in bad press, so they have stopped enforcing their trademark. They still use it as their brand’s signature, and rightfully so!

    https://bennystacos.com/taco-tuesday-legendary-tradition/

    So Taco John gave up the trademark and now any restaurant can advertise "Taco Tuesday" specials.

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    • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The film Demolition Man is slowly developing to become prophetic.

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