Taco Bell Faces Uphill Battle In Mexico

The State Journal-Register:

It sounds like a fast-food grudge match: Taco Bell is taking on the homeland of its namesake by reopening for the first time in 15 years in Mexico.

Defenders of Mexican culture see the chain’s re-entry as a crowning insult to a society already overrun by U.S. chains from Starbucks and Subway to KFC.

‘It’s like bringing ice to the Arctic,’ complained pop culture historian Carlos Monsivais.

The company’s branding strategy – ‘Taco Bell is something else’ – is an attempt to distance itself from any comparison to Mexico’s beloved taquerias, which sell traditional corn tortillas stuffed with an endless variety of fillings, from spicy beef to corn fungus and cow eyes. Read more.