by Jaclyn Meade

I’m not sure if many other people were as excited as I was when I heard that Taco Bell was going to start selling breakfast at their fast food locations. While Taco Bell can be one of our waistlines’ worst enemies at times, there is nothing like biting into a Cheesy Gordita Crunch after a late night out. Making the decision to open even earlier, or in some cases never close, so that we can now get our Taco Bell fix even earlier is, in my opinion, pure genius. Taco Bell started serving breakfast March 27 from 7 a.m. – 11 a.m.

This is the brand’s largest menu expansion since it opened 50 years ago. Taco Bell takes the breakfast foods we are used to such as eggs, hash browns, bacon, and sausage and gives them a twist more akin to the items we are used to ordering from Taco Bell. Some of their new breakfast menu items consist of: breakfast burritos, A.M. Crunchwraps, Cinnabon Delights, A.M. Grilled Tacos and my personal favorite, the Waffle Taco.

Ronald McDonald

With rolling out this new breakfast menu, Taco Bell released a series of commercials featuring real patrons named Ronald McDonald advocating for the expansion. They are shown eating and enjoying the new breakfast items in the various cities they reside in across the U.S. The tagline, “Guess Who Loves It?,” sets the viewer up for a funny surprise towards the end of the commercial when they reveal that all of these men are, in fact, named Ronald McDonald and have no shame devouring a Taco Bell menu item. These ads have gained Taco Bell a lot of media attention as some regard this as a personal attack against one of its largest fast food competitors, McDonald’s Corp.

McDonald’s Response

McDonald’s fired back at Taco Bell last week on social media, posting a picture of its infamous character Ronald McDonald (seen above) petting a Chihuahua with the caption, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” then announced Friday, March 28 that its restaurant would offer free small coffees during breakfast hours for a two week period from March 31 to April 13. This will be the first time the golden arches chain has held an event like this nationwide, so it seems the popular fast food giant may be feeling the heat more than they are letting on.

Should McDonald’s be afraid of the seemingly positive response Taco Bell has received regarding its breakfast offerings? Probably not. McDonald’s breakfast is a staple in many consumer’s diets and is the only reason you will typically find me up before 10 a.m. on any given weekend. Maybe this battle will, however, finally encourage McDonald’s to serve their breakfast items all day–something many of us have been wishing for many years.

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Image via: USA Today