WhiplasH the cowboy monkey

Taco John’s was losing ground with Taco Bell outspending them 50-to-1. Fighting on price or media weight was not gonna work. They had to do something Taco Bell couldn’t.

Taco John’s had real western heritage and menu items nobody else had, Potato Olés being the most iconic. People trust food with real heritage behind it. Put the two together, and Taco John’s had a category Taco Bell could never own.

A campaign that created a category. Taco John’s was positioned as “West-Mex,” the fresh, bold, meat-and-potatoes Mexican food that Taco Bell couldn't replicate. Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey, a capuchin riding a dog and three-time rodeo act of the year, became the spokes-animal. TV, in-store POP, franchise all made the case that Taco John’s was something completely all its own.