Taco Bell is about to fast break across TV screens, as basketball Hall-of-Famer and Emmy Award–winning commentator Charles Barkley will star in ads for its newly launched $2 Meal Deal.
The ad will premiere during game one of the NBA Finals on ABC today. It will also be seen on the big screen, as it airs in cinema, taking advantage of the summer movie season, which is in full swing nationwide.
The 30-second ad plays to Barkley’s signature line “that’s terrible.” He and a friend, who is eating a Taco Bell $2 Meal Deal featuring a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, are in his recreation room playing billiards when Barkley shakes his head and says, “That’s terrible.” Not sure what’s wrong, the friend questions Barkley, who responds, “How’s Taco Bell gonna make money off that?” The friend responds, “They should get you to promote it.” After a long pause, Barkley enthusiastically agrees, “That’s not terrible.”
“The $2 Meal Deal, with three items for $2, is a game changer,” says David Ovens, chief marketing officer for Taco Bell Corp. “In the 1993 NBA Finals, Charles scored a triple double, so he knows about being an NBA game changer. His signature line ‘terrible’ was fertile ground for our creative team to play off of.”
This marks the third ad Charles Barkley has been featured in this year for Taco Bell. Previously, there were two ads to support the NBA Five Buck Box. The first ad, “Poem,” served as a teaser before the Superbowl and the second, “It Rocks,” aired during the game as well as throughout February and into March.