Crazy Smart or Over the Edge? Doritos To Bag Locos Tacos Tortilla Chips

Line Extension Hits Stores April 8, Gets Marketing Started Via Twitter Contest

Published: March 26, 2013

This is enough to make your head spin, and maybe your heart burn. PepsiCo's Frito-Lay is about to put Taco Bell's Doritos Locos Tacos in a bag.

Yes, the brand that put its name on the wildly popular new fast-food offering is trying to seize on the momentum by launching a line extension scheduled to hit stores on April 8. Or is that a line extension of a line extension?
Doritos announced the product on Twitter, which includes bag shots of Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch flavors. The Taco Bell icon is displayed prominently.
Doritos is supporting the new launch with a Twitter contest in which users are are urged to respond by answering this question: "How bold will you go for a pallet of Doritos Locos Tacos tortilla chips?" The winner gets 66 11-ounce bags of Doritos Locos Tacos Nacho Cheese-and-Crunchy Taco-flavored tortilla chips and 66 11-ounce bags of Doritos Locos Tacos Cool Ranch-and-Crunchy Taco-flavored tortilla chips. (Retail value = $566, according to the contest rules).
Taco Bell's Doritos Locos tacos, which debuted last March, were the biggest product launch in its 50-plus year history. The product has been wildly successful for the chain in terms of buzz; Taco Bell sold more than 200 million of them in less than six months. Earlier this year, parent company Yum Brands execs said that in 2012, Taco Bell sold 325 million Doritos Locos Tacos and contributed to the broadening of the Taco Bell brand, but financial specifics were not given.
Taco Bell last year hinted that it would expand the product line, and earlier this month it launched the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos taco, accompanied by what the company said was its largest marketing campaign to date.
PepsiCo Chief Financial Officer Hugh F. Johnston foreshadowed an expanded partnership earlier this year at a financial conference, telling analysts that "we are gearing up for year two of our Doritos partnership with Taco Bell with even more exciting new products."