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Eating a Taco Bell taco a day for 30 days sounds like a one-way ticket to gastrointestinal distress, but if you live in Arizona and are willing to take that shot, Taco Bell is here for you. At 20 restaurants across the state, the chain is introducing a subscription service dubbed the Taco Lovers Pass. Users buy the pass, which, according to CNN, costs between $5 and $10 depending on location, and unlock a secret menu of free daily tacos on the restaurant’s app. Thanks, Lil Nas X!
The available tacos include the Doritos Locos Taco, the Spicy Potato Soft Taco, and your good ol’ Crunchy Taco Supreme, each of which usually cost between $1.49 and $2.89, so you’ll absolutely get your moneys worth. Taco Bell already has a loyalty program, Taco Bell Rewards, but the brand is presumably hoping the pass will convert casual taco lovers into full-blown devotees.
In recent years and especially during the pandemic, more restaurants have been turning to loyalty programs to recruit or maintain customers: Burger King and McDonald’s both introduced rewards programs over the past year; Starbucks’s longtime rewards program grew by 2.5 million users over the pandemic; Panera Bread, which launched a loyalty program in February 2020, signed up 500k paid subscribers by the following October.
Some independent restaurants have also asked customers to join subscription services, guaranteeing some incoming cash during an incredibly uncertain time. For chains, such programs both cater to repeat customers and — most importantly, money-wise — provides brands with a massive amount of customer personal data, which it can then use to further market products and campaigns. Starbucks has used the data it’s gathered from users for everything from figuring out where to open new stores to shaping the menu. So way to go, you loyalty program-loving sheeple! Now Taco Bell and the Deep State are going to know how much you love soft potato tacos.
