Flashback: Taco Bell Flies in 10,000 Tacos to Bethel, Alaska

As I thumbed through my last

issue of AdWeek

I was reminded of a tremendous stroke of marketing genius. In June of 2012, residents of

Bethel, Alaska

received a chain of emails announcing the opening of a Taco Bell. For some background,

Bethel

is located 400 miles from Anchorage, and is only accessible by air and water. Previously, its 6,000 residents would have to go to Anchorage if they wanted Taco Bell.

Unfortunately, It was a hoax, or even an "evil hoax" as

some called it

.

Shortly after the story went viral, the folks over at Taco Bell decided they wanted to do something about this: and they did.

The social/digital team over at Taco Bell and was quick to respond to the story. Their idea: Have 10,000 tacos airlifted in.

The strategy was a homerun, and people are still talking about it over a year later. I asked my wife if she remembered this story, and before I could finish, she finished my sentence for me and raved about it.

It's not everyday that you see a campaign with that kind of influence. L$

Here

is a video of the whole event.