Taco Bell was presumably watching Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson goad his teammates into stealing bases when he himself wasn’t attempting to. They also probably know the new world champion Kansas City Royals are base-stealing kings. Yet they still made a bet last month just prior to Game 1 of the World Series that if a base was stolen during the series at all, they’d be giving away free AM Crunchwraps to the entire country on November 5.
It of course wasn’t too long before Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain stole second base during the sixth inning of Game 1. Which means Taco Bell will be spending over $10 million handing out free crunchwraps to Americans tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The bet seems less risky when you know that it comes right after McDonald’s — which leads all fast food chains in sales of breakfast food items — has just gone “breakfast all day,” and also that Taco Bell has a promotional deal with Major League Baseball. Advertising the giveaway during the series cost Taco Bell almost $15 million, and with 6,000 restaurants in the U.S. giving away crunchwraps at a predicted two a minute on Thursday, the taco giant is expected to spend another 2 – 3 million in cheese and tortilla costs alone.
The company claims they want to give out as many AM Crunchwraps as possible in one of the biggest “trigger promotions” attempted yet. Red Wings fans know that a hat trick earns them free curly fries from Arby’s, and when Arby’s attempted to change that offer to a free “junior roast beef sandwich” a few years back, hockey fans raised hell until the promotion was reverted back.
These sorts of freebies become a part of the game, much like Taco Bell’s offer immediately became the talk on social media, snagging them an extra 25,000 mentions on Twitter and Facebook the day after the base was stolen. Taco Bell is obviously really excited about their new breakfast menu and is willing to literally give it away with no restrictions in order to get delicious egg and hashbrown breakfast bindles into your body.
Just remember tomorrow you only get ONE crunchwrap. If a local Taco Bell manager sees you try to cruise through the drive-thru after getting a to-go order inside, he is authorized to give you a stern warning about actually trying to steal things.
(via Business Insider)