Category Archives: hyperbole

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the ending of a radio ad for the Sprint Unlimited Freedom Plan.

Interpreting Quotation Marks in Marketing, Part 34,219

Translation: Not forever.

Hamblor, the god of hamburger lies.

Hardee’s / Carl’s Jr. recently had Hamblor, the god of hamburgers, create their ultimate Steakhouse Six Dollar Burger with all the flavors of a steakhouse, one hundred percent black angus beef, crispy onion strings, A.1. Steak Sauce and crumbled blue cheese.

They said it was glorious.

What I received says otherwise.

Beware of polytheistic fast food, my children.

Truth in Advertising, part 3,405,392: Taco Bell’s Chicken Flatbread Sandwiches Commercial

Most of us know that many commercials use a healthy scoop of hyperbole to help get their messages across. For example, Axe products will get you instantly laid by a flock of cheerleaders, a Lexus will transform you into a highly sophisticated person, Nyquil is tasty, and so on.

Fast food marketing is especially dependent on hyperbole, and to a certain extent, we’ve come to expect it. However, sometimes the distance between perception and reality is so great that it can only serve to disappoint. Yum! Brands’ Taco Bell has perfected this technique, and to demonstrate it, see if you can tell which one of the following images from Taco Bell’s Chicken Flatbread Sandwiches commercial wasn’t actually in the commercial. Good luck!

OMG! Run for your lives!

Rumor has it that this Taco Bell point-o-purchase display was copied almost exactly from a Heaven’s Gate recruitment poster. Sadly, extensive quick-service restaurant (QSR) research has shown that if you were greeted at the front counter with this level of manic enthusiasm, you’d most likely soil yourself, do a 180° and flee.