The 'Breakfast War' Timeline: Taco Bell Vs. McDonald's
March 26, 2014: Taco Bell debuted an advertising campaign for its new breakfast menu. Television commercials that were to be aired on March 27 were posted on their YouTube channel. The commercials titled "Guess Who Loved It" featured real people named Ronald McDonald from across the country who professed their love for the new Taco Bell breakfast items.
March 27, 2014: Taco Bell released its breakfast menu in over 5,500 restaurants nationwide. The menu includes Crunchwraps, waffle tacos, breakfast burritos, grilled tacos, flatbread melts, Cinnabon delights, hash browns, orange juice and coffee. Soon after Taco Bell's menu release, McDonald's tweeted, "Breaking! Mayor McCheese confirms: Ronald, in fact, still prefers McDonald's" in response to Taco Bell's advertisements.
March 28, 2014: McDonald's announced a promotion offering free small McCafe coffees to costumers during breakfast hours from March 31 through April 13 (SO GO!). McDonald's also posted more comeback tweets. One of them says, "Nothing beats the original #FirstMeal" attached with a picture of an Egg McMuffin, McCafe coffee and hash brown from McDonald's. The second tweet is a picture of Ronald McDonald kneeling next to a Chihuahua with the text "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
April 7, 2014: Taco Bell released yet another commercial geared against McDonald's. This new advertisement, titled Get With The Times, features a man singing about how dull and dated McDonald's breakfast is to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had A Farm." This time, Taco Bell didn't hold back at all and actually used phrases directly putting down McDonald's, such as, "I've been eating Egg McMuffins since 1984," and, "Move on from your old McDonald breakfast."
If you learn anything from this 'Breakfast War' let it be this: McDonald's is still serving that free coffee in the morning, and there are a lot of people out there named Ronald McDonald.
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