Fans call the shots in Taco Bell's latest nacho fries 'movie trailer'

Taco Bell’s re-introduction of its top-selling nacho fries is accompanied by a cinematic contribution from its fans, who helped the brand craft a storyline for a faux movie trailer called “Fry Again.”

Taco Bell’s Live Mas Productions, in partnership with agency Duetsch LA, solicited plotlines for “Fry Again” in a virtual Twitter “writer’s room” beginning in January. The story concerns a woman named Vanessa trapped in a classic science-fiction plot device—the infinite time loop. The loop helps Vanessa to continue to enjoy nacho fries indefinitely—but the pleasure comes with danger in the form of a futuristic pursuer that represents the punishing nature of limited-time offers.

Nacho fries joined the Taco Bell menu for the first time in 2018 and each twice-yearly release has been accompanied by a movie-style trailer—what the brand in a statement called “relevant thematic iteration of the Nacho Fries saga.” Last year, the company debuted an anime sci-fi called “Fry Force,” and a creepy love story known as “The Craving.”

In 2020, Taco Bell spoofed the buddy-move genre in “Supply and Demand,” and cast Darren Criss as a lovestruck singer in “Chasing Gold.” The menu item kicked off in January of 2018 behind a conspiracy thriller called “Web of Fries,” which generated its own sequel later that year. 2019’s “Nacho Fries: Retrieval” lampooned the outer-space odyssey.

Fans responding with the Twitter hashtag #FriesChallenge helped to craft the storyline for this year’s entry, along with details like the kind of car Vanessa drives (a yellow sports car for the drive-through, and a dune buggy for the climatic desert chase scene out of “The Road Warrior”) and the name of her dog, “Baja.” Taco Bell boasts 1.9 million followers on Twitter.

As with virtually all fast-food promotions today, this one leans into benefits for consumers who use Taco Bell's app or website to order ahead. Members of its digital loyalty club are getting early access to the item, beginning today. They can also receive free al a carte nacho fries March 24-26 with a minimum $1 purchase when they use the app. Nacho fries go on sale to all consumers March 10 for a suggested price of $1.49 a la carte, or $5.49 for a Nacho Fries Box including the fries, a beefy 5-layer burrito, a crunchy taco and a medium drink. Grubhub will offer free nacho fries with delivery from March 27 until April 13.

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Taco Bell execs have called nacho fries the chain’s most successful limited-time menu item, with as many as a fourth of all consumers including them with their orders when available. The fries are not chips but crispy potato fries covered in taco seasoning with nacho cheese dipping sauce.

“We’ve explored tons of genres for Nacho Fries over the years, but this may be my favorite yet because it gave our most loyal fans a front-row seat to co-create one of our biggest fan-led campaigns ever,” said Tracee Larocca, head of brand creative. “With the bar set this high, who knows where we’ll take Nacho Fries next.”