Dollar Cravings (or $1 Dollar Cravings[1][2]) is the value menu of American fast-food restaurant Taco Bell. Dollar Cravings was launched August 18, 2014 in reaction to the new McDonald's and Wendy's value/dollar menus.[3][4][5][6] The current menu contains 13 food items.[3][4][7] Dollar Cravings replaced Taco Bell's previous value menu Why Pay More.[5][6]
On March 10, 2016, Taco Bell introduced a breakfast value menu.[12][13][14]
History
On 26 December 2012, fast food culture site Brand Eating reported Taco Bell planned to replace their value menu Why Pay More with Dollar Cravings.[15] Brand Eating speculated Dollar Cravings was "probably a response to rising food and labor costs."[15] The value menu was tested in select locations in southern California, Kansas City, and Sacramento.[2][16]
Cost
The pricing of the Dollar Cravings food items was largely determined by the competition from other fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and Wendy's.[3][4] Magazine Time pointed out the increase in price from 99¢ to a dollar.[4][17] Television channel CNBC also noted the price increased from the previous value menu Why Pay More which had a three-tiered menu offering food items from 79, 89, or 99 cents.[8]
Menu
The menu was divided based on five food cravings: "Beefy", "Cheesy", "Crunchy", "Spicy", and "Sweet".[2][15]
Food items on the Dollar Cravings menu include:
Promotion
On August 15, 2014, the new menu was advertised via the mobile application Snapchat with the target demographic being millennials.[3][9]
Everlasting Dollars
On August 26, 2014, Taco Bell announced the new contest "Everlasting Dollars" in which 11 participants in 11 American cities could win a lifetime of Taco Bell food.[20][21] However, The Consumerist points out the fine print:
The A.V. Club proved critical of "Everlasting Dollars" stating "In an unflinchingly honest appraisal, Taco Bell caps a 'lifetime' of eating its food at just 46 years. And in that time, you'll be awarded only $10,000 in gift cards—and this doled out at just $216 per year. While obviously the most humane solution, giving contestants just over $4 to spend on Taco Bell per week is hardly the 'lifetime' of eating Taco Bell you might have imagined. It is as though Taco Bell has promised you a delicious, fulfilling prize, only to totally cheap out on what's inside."
Reception
Commercial
A writer for Seeking Alpha said that the new menu "could improve same store sales and once again increase the overall value of owning a Taco Bell chain."[22] Canadian Internet news service Digital Journal considered the new menu "a strategy to attract the youth, who had cut down quick-service restaurant visits in the past few years due to low-disposable income amid the sluggishly recovering economy."[9]
Food
AdWeek's David Griner tried every food item on the menu. On the subject of the Cheesy Roll-Up, Griner called it "the toast sandwich of Taco Bell cuisine."[23][24]
See also
- Burger Wars
External links
References
- Angel Chang. Taco Bell Debuts New "$1 Dollar Cravings Menu" First We Feast, 18 August 2014, retrieved 2015-06-15^
- News: Taco Bell's $1 Cravings Menu Test Update Brand Eating, 13 May 2013, retrieved 2015-06-15^
- Brianna Sacks. Taco Bell is latest chain to offer a dollar menu - LA Times