³ÉÈËXÕ¾

SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Taco Bell takes down ad to be more veggie-friendly

Jan 29, 2013, 3:08 PM | Updated: Feb 4, 2013, 5:17 pm


A new Taco Bell advertisement that ran during the college football Bowl Championship Series has faced so much criticism from health groups for being “anti-vegetable” that it has now retracted the ad.

The offending ad shows a man arriving at a party with a veggie tray, to the dismay of the hostess.

“Veggies on game day is like punting on fourth-and-one: it’s a cop-out,” says the voice-over. “Secretly, people kind of hate you for it.”

When the commercial was released, the Center for Science in the Public, a health advocacy group, took to Twitter asking people to urge Taco Bell to take the ad down.

The group complained that TV doesn’t show ads for healthy vegetables like kale or broccoli. They called the commercial the equivalent of a vegetable “attack ad.”

But producer Jake can relate to the message in the commercial. He said he has been asked to bring veggie trays to parties and they sit untouched.

Dori has an annual Super Bowl party with friends who work for days on chili or gourmet appetizers. Someone who just brings a veggie tray looks bad.

“So this ad is absolutely true,” said Dori.

Taco Bell finally gave in, and spokesman Rob Poetsch that he didn’t want anyone to misunderstand the commercial.

Representatives for the Center for Science in the Public were excited about the victory for veggies.

“We are delighted that Taco Bell is pulling an ad that urged people not to bring veggie trays to their Super Bowl parties, but to instead bring 12-packs of Taco Bell’s tacos,” the Center for Science in the Public said in a statement.

Seattle News Archives & Features

Associated Press

Mountain lion bites 4-year-old on popular Olympic National Park trail, injuring child

PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — A mountain lion bit a 4-year-old who was walking with their family over the weekend on a popular trail in Olympic National Park in Washington state, park officials said Monday. The child was injured during Sunday’s attack and flown to a trauma center in Seattle for treatment, according to a […]

21 days ago

Tom Brock

Bear Gulch Wildfire near Lake Cushman growing in size

A wildfire burning near Lake Cushman continues to grow in the Olympic National Forest.

23 days ago

Associated Press

Seattle man charged with string of burglaries at the homes of NFL and MLB stars

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle man was charged Friday with a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent current and former football and baseball players, marking the latest example of well-known athletes being targeted in home thefts. Earl Henderson Riley IV, 21, was charged with several counts of residential burglary in both occupied and […]

2 months ago

Associated Press

Campgrounds closed along Pacific Crest Trail in search for man wanted in daughters’ deaths

SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters. Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search […]

2 months ago

In this undated photo released by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, a cache of military weaponr...

Associated Press

2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say

SEATTLE (AP) — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included grenade launchers and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday […]

2 months ago

Associated Press

Authorities are searching for a Washington state father of 3 dead girls

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state father is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. Police on Tuesday asked the public for help in finding the father of the girls, Travis Decker, 32. He is wanted for three counts of murder and kidnapping, the Wenatchee Police […]

2 months ago

Taco Bell takes down ad to be more veggie-friendly