I see this as a win. It's absurd that anyone can own the term Taco Tuesday. It's literally a noun and a day of the week
this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
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Do you not remember the youtube drama over someone claiming the word "react"?
That was only 1 word...
I see this as an absolute win!
I'm really surprised that this is the top post here.
It's not just a noun and a day of the week. It's a noun and a day of the week used to formally sell tacos.
This is Taco Bell using its size and wealth to take something from smaller players so that it could make money with it.
And the smallest players have always had absolutely nothing to worry about. Part of trademark law is that you must defend it. That can be just a letter.
Everyone can now use "Taco Tuesday" without risk of being sued. Don't overthink it.
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It’s Tuesday.
I know how I’m celebrating.
But not at Taco Hell.
My favorite bar here in town has a letter from Taco John's framed on the wall explaining why they had to change the name of their weekly taco special.
Because of their prices I'd basically given up on Taco Bell except for the value menu. But now every item that was $1 jumped to $1.5 (and everything else went up with it) so I'm cutting out Taco Bell completely. A few months back one of their limited time offers was $5 but when ordered à la carte was $12.47 -- that kinda revealed just how (unreasonably) skewed their profit margins must be.
It used to be $5-10 to feel gross and full, now it's $15-20 and takes 15 minutes both inside or drive through. I haven't been back in a couple years because of price and incompetence, there's better options for cheaper and quicker. Sheetz the gas station has been nailing Amerimexican for years if you're north east.
My local gas station attached Mexican joint has been cranking out local amazing cuisine for years, I would literally never even consider Taco Bell
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Taco Bell has stayed the cheapest food place for as long as I've known.
It's like $12 for a crunchwrap meal in my super low CoL town. Wemdy's still has their $5 buggie bag. I used to love Taco Bell but it now costs more than freaking Chipotle.
$5.69 for a crunchwrap in my relatively high CoL town. $5.99 for a "build your own cravings box" that's kinda like a biggie bag but maybe slightly less food and the specialty item can be a crunchwrap.
Build your own cravings box is amazing. Where I live you can’t order it in-store, it’s online order exclusive. But I think some locations don’t do it, which is sad.
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I only go when I want to have the specific flavor profile they create. If I want actual Mexican food, they're my absolute last option
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In Scandinavia it's Taco Friday. Who has the rights to that? Who needs to get sued? Who should we be mad at?
As far as I know, nobody. They understand the social good. And they celebrate it with tacos promptly when the workday ends at 4 PM.
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Alert the Munch Squad.
I wanna munch!
Squad
Justin did a segment on this not long ago that had me in stitches
Hell yeah, happy to see some other MBMBAM fans on lemmy
Fuck Taco Bell. Taco Bell only won because Taco John's didn't have deep enough pockets to defend the trademarked term they legally had.
Look, fuck the gross Yum Brands mega conglomerate, but the idea that someone could own the trademark to "Taco Tuesday" is fucking ridiculous.
Welcome to the US, where the rules are made up and the goalposts are set by the deepest pockets.
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No, Taco Bell won because WHO THE FUCK IS TACO JOHN'S AND WHY THE FUCK DO THEY OWN TACO TUESDAY?
Did you know that two companies had ownership of that trademark? Does anyone associate "Taco Tuesday" with anything but being alliterative? Do people immediately think of Taco John's or Gregory's when they hear "Taco Tuesday?"
No.
They probably think of every elementary school that had a Taco Tuesday at least once a month. They probably think of the Lego Movie. They probably think they're hilarious and just made it up for the first time.
Even if you knew of Taco John's and knew they had Taco Tuesday, did you know that it was their trademark?
Taco John's did not relinquish the mark because they couldn't fight it. They relinquished it for the same reason Gregory's did... they knew their claim to the mark was MINIMAL at best and it would be trivial to show common usage of the term that would render it generic.
I actually do think of Taco John's when I think of Taco Tuesday because that was their big special thing for decades.
But I also don't care if 'Taco Tuesday' is something you can trademark. If Taco Bell wants to use it, fine.
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They should have never been granted the trademark based on prioriry. They did not coin or use the term first. They are not fighting because they know they wouldn't survive a challenge which is why they just bullied small shops who themselves didn't have the pockets to defend themselves.
I don't think that's what happened? Based on this article and another one I read, it seems that now the Taco Tuesday trademark is relinquished meaning anyone can use it. I'm guessing taco bell would rather everyone be able to use it including them rather than it being locked down by someone who's not them.
Indeed that was the case:
According to The Strange History of Taco Tuesday, the promotional phrase was started in 1982 by a chain called Taco John’s based out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. In fact, Taco John’s placed a registered trademark on the phrase in 1989 to attach it to their brand. They filed a lawsuit against another restaurant chain after seeing that it was used, but the lawsuit resulted in bad press, so they have stopped enforcing their trademark. They still use it as their brand’s signature, and rightfully so!
https://bennystacos.com/taco-tuesday-legendary-tradition/
So Taco John gave up the trademark and now any restaurant can advertise "Taco Tuesday" specials.
Being able to trademark a descriptive phrase is ridiculous. It's just two real English words that accurately describe an event.
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My understanding is Taco John’s used to prevent smaller shops from using it
Do you really want Taco John's to hold the usage rights to 'taco Tuesday'?
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