As crazy as it sounds, when you buy stuff to add to your collection, sometimes you accidentally collect stuff you had no intention of collecting.
Recently, I picked up an eBay auction that had three ALF puppets from a Burger King promotion called, The Many Faces of ALF. I really only wanted the puppets, but the seller listed them as part of a lot with other vintage fast food tie-in toys. So, for much less than the price of just the puppets themselves, I also received a McDonald’s Beanie Baby still in the package, a couple of Lion King stuffed animals from McDonald’s, and four Taco Bell “Talking Chihuahua” stuffed animals. While the rest immediately went into the trash, I’ve decided to add these little dogs to my toy shelf.
THE ADS
In 1995, Gidget was only eight weeks old when she was discovered by animal trainer Sue Chipperton at the home of a West Highland terrier breeder that Chipperton had purchased dogs from before. Chipperton was smitten by the chihuahua pup that was “filled with personality” and decided to add her to Chipperton’s animal acting troupe.
Two years later, the advertising firm TBWA Worldwide began working on a $200 million campaign for Taco Bell, including an ad featuring a talking chihuahua. Initially, Gidget was supposed to be a side character in the commercial, playing the love interest of the star of the spot, a dog named Dinky. However, once they began shooting, the director swapped Dinky for another dog named Taco. But then the director changed their mind again and put Gidget in as the star of the ad, propelling the little dog into pop culture history.
Using special effects and voice over work from comedian Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 9-1-1, Rocko’s Modern Life) , the little chihuahua’s catch phrase – “Yo quiero Taco Bell” – became a viral sensation and would be featured in a handful of follow-up spots. However, the catch phrases wouldn’t stop there. Over the years, he was also known for “Viva Gorditas!”, “Drop the chalupa.” and, as part of a Godzilla movie tie-in, “Here lizard, lizard, lizard.”
Speaking of guest stars, not only was the chihuahua seen with the likes of Godzilla, but also Ricardo Montalban, Colonel Sanders, Johnny Knoxville (before he was famous), and the Battle Droids from the Star Wars prequels.
Gidget herself was a guest at the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first animal to ring the opening bell for trading on May 2, 2000 to help promote a new style of tortilla chip at Taco Bell.
THE MERCHANDISE
During his heyday, the Taco Bell Chihuahua could be found on all kinds of merchandise – t-shirts, baseball caps, talking keychains, a bobble head for your car, a Magic 8 Ball fortune teller, and even as stuffed animals that would play catch phrases if you pressed a button in his ear.
However, one of the most prominent tie-ins were the Taco Bell plush toys. The toys cost $2.99 at Taco Bell, according to this in-store display captured by friend of the blog, Consumer Time Capsule.
While this photo only shows four, there were multiple waves of releases based on the catch phrase or theme of the latest series of commercials. Each toy came with a small accessory to make them unique and collectible – like a hat, a microphone, a bib, a rose in his mouth – and would play a different catch phrase whenever you squeezed it’s body.
The ones I got off eBay were still in their original plastic bags. However, the plastic was pretty beat up, so you could barely see through them anymore. Because of that, plus the fact that I have zero concern for keeping these toys in mint condition, I opened them for display. Surprisingly, all of the catch phrase speakers still work!
Although these are fun little toys that are a great snapshot of the time they were released, I don’t see me actively searching for more to add to my collection. If I happen across them at a thrift store or garage sale, I’d pick up more, but I’m not paying eBay prices. Especially because the market on these is all over the map, with some selling for as little as their original asking price of $2.99, while other auctions go for closer to $20 for the exact same toy.
THE END
The talking chihuahua ads came to an end in 2000. By then the campaign was getting more and more pushback from Latin American activist groups who felt like the ads were little more than cultural caricature. In addition, the campaign simply didn’t work. Despite the popularity of the dog, Taco Bell sales were still low compared to other fast food chains. In the second quarter of 2000, sales figures dropped 6% over the previous year, leading to a shake up in the marketing approach as well as in the company’s leadership, when Peter Waller was replaced by Emil Brolick, then-head of Wendy’s International.
While it’s never mentioned publicly as part of the decision to end the campaign, another factor could have been a lawsuit from 1998 brought forth by Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The two men had developed a cartoon character called “Psycho Chihuahua” and had been in talks with Taco Bell for a year to adapt the character for TV spots, only to find that Taco Bell took the idea to their advertising firm, TBWA, instead.
In 2003, a verdict was handed down, granting the men $30 million in damages. Taco Bell tried to sue TBWA in return, but their attempt to shift blame – and financial responsibility – was unsuccessful. Because they delayed the payout to Shields and Rinks for so long with their case against TBWA, Taco Bell wound up owing the men a grand total of $42 million including interest.
After her service as the Taco Bell spokesdog, Gidget would act in a few other notable gigs, including as the mother of Bruiser, the chihuahua, in Legally Blonde 2, as well as a brief appearance in a GEICO commercial from 2002.
Gidget retired in the early 2000s and would live until the ripe old age of 15. On the morning of July 21, 2009, she suffered a massive stroke and had to be euthanized. In 2011, her trainer, Sue Chipperton, co-wrote a book about Gidget’s life called, A Famous Dog’s Life: The Story of Gidget, America’s Most Beloved Chihuahua, with a forward written by her co-star, Reese Witherspoon.
If tu quiero mas buena chihuahua, here’s a compilation video of a bunch of the ads on YouTube:
