MCLEAN, VA – The battle for breakfast dollar share continues
between McDonald’s and Taco Bell, with a new advertising campaign that is
making McDonald’s “look like Taco Bell’s private punching bag,” writes USA
Today.
The newspaper writes: “This go-round, it's ‘Old MacDonald’ —
as in the song, Old MacDonald Had a Farm. A semi-dorky guy — whose house is
filled with 1980s memorabilia — takes his wrapped Egg McMuffin on the bus and
sings (well, laments) that he's been eating Egg McMuffins since 1984. So he
gets with the times — and tries Taco Bell's new Waffle Taco. Presto: He junks
his flip phone and gets a smart phone.”
USA Today continues that the Taco Bell ads poking fun at
McDonald’s “seem like fun and games” but they are “very pointed attempts” at
taking breakfast market share from the QSR chain, including McDonald’s
“incredible lock” on the $50 billion fast-food breakfast business.
While McDonald’s has yet to respond to the ad campaign, Taco
Bell says it’s just getting started.
"We have to do things to grab
attention," Chris Brandt, chief marketing officer at Taco Bell, told USA
Today. "We're trying to position ourselves as the next generation of
breakfast."