Whatever Happened To The Taco Bell Dog & Why Was She So Controversial?
Yo quiero... $42 million dollars? Here's how one tiny dog made big moves in the ad world. But was she worth all the trouble she brought to the franchise?
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00:00Yo quiero, 42 million dollars?
00:03Here's how one tiny dog made big moves in the ad world, but was she worth all the trouble
00:08she brought to the franchise?
00:09A great mascot can turn any business into a corporate juggernaut if handled with care.
00:13Just look at Gritty of the Philadelphia Flyers, a legend who helped cement his status with
00:17a cameo on the Abbott Elementary Season 2 premiere.
00:20The Geico Gecko continues to receive a lot of love, and Flo from Progressive somehow
00:24makes shopping for insurance fun.
00:26These days, Taco Bell doesn't really dabble in mascots, instead trying to lure in customers
00:30through cheap and oddly delicious food.
00:32Perhaps because of the way some in the general public reacted to the restaurant chain's
00:35now infamous Chihuahua.
00:36From 1997 to 2000, the Chihuahua appeared in a litany of commercials for the fast food
00:41brand, usually declaring,
00:42Psst.
00:43Yo quiero Taco Bell.
00:46Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui of Reno 911 and Rocco's Modern Life fame, the dog starred
00:50in many notable ads from the era, including a crossover with the 1998 Godzilla movie where
00:55the pooch tries to trap the monster in a regular-sized box.
00:58Uh oh, I think I need a bigger box.
01:02In 2000, Taco Bell moved away from the tiny icon, but her story was far from over.
01:07Before she was the Taco Bell Chihuahua, she was simply Gidget, born in 1994 and adopted
01:11by animal trainer Sue Chipperton.
01:13In 1997, advertising company TBWA worked with Taco Bell to develop a new series of ads.
01:18They proposed the Chihuahua spokesperson because the company sells Mexican food, and the breed
01:22is typically associated with Mexico.
01:24In her first Taco Bell ad, Gidget runs down the street as another dog watches her, anticipating
01:29a romantic encounter.
01:30However, Gidget runs right past her to a man eating a taco.
01:37An icon and a catchphrase were born.
01:39The commercials may have been discontinued in 2000, but Gidget reprised her Taco Bell
01:43role for a Geico spot in which she met the Geico Gecko.
01:45Gidget also starred in 2003's Legally Blonde 2, red, white, and blonde, as Bruiser's
01:50mother.
01:55While the Taco Bell Chihuahua quickly became a legit pop culture phenomenon, the ads weren't
01:59without controversy.
02:00A number of Latin American groups spoke out against the commercials, insisting the dog
02:04celebrated racist stereotypes.
02:07It led to important discussions surrounding representation in media, with some saying
02:10the ads were harmless and even made Latin culture seem cool.
02:13But there were others, like Mario Obrado from the California Coalition of Hispanic Organizations,
02:18who told the Los Angeles Times in 1998,
02:28Obrado called for a boycott of Taco Bell if the ads featuring the Chihuahua didn't stop,
02:32which of course didn't happen until 2000.
02:35Rumors then circulated that the ads were halted because the dog had died.
02:38But in reality, Taco Bell's revenue declined around that time, so they needed to change
02:42things up.
02:43It was a lackluster end for the iconic spokesdog, but Taco Bell's Chihuahua troubles weren't
02:47over yet.
02:48In 1998, the company was sued by two men who claimed to have created the character.
02:52The suit claimed Taco Bell took their idea to develop with TBWA, a federal jury sided
02:57with the men in 2003, forcing Taco Bell to pay out $42 million.
03:02Taco Bell then filed suit against TBWA, claiming the ad agency should be the ones held responsible.
03:08And if you thought it was impossible for the Taco Bell Chihuahua to be linked to a possible
03:11future U.S. president, think again.
03:13Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, lawyer Doug Emhoff, successfully defended
03:17TBWA in Taco Bell's lawsuit against them.
03:20As for Gidget, she passed away on July 21st, 2009.
03:24Discussing the pup's final years with ABC News, Karen McElhatton from Studio Animal
03:27Services assured fans she was retired.
03:30She lived like a queen, very pampered.
03:32Fast food conglomerates, racial divisions, and U.S. politics.
03:36Gidget is connected to everything that comprises modern American culture.
03:39That's not too shabby for a little Chihuahua.
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