Last year, among all of the other terrible things that happened in 2020, Taco Bell decided to drop a whole bunch of vegetarian items from their menu.
Among the menu items cut in August 2020 were the 7-Layer Burrito, Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, Spicy Potato Soft Taco, and the beloved Mexican Pizza.
People were outraged. There were tweets:
PLEASE RETWEET THIS if you think @tacobell is making A mistake by CANCELING the Mexican pizza!!! With enough RT’s maybe we can stop this!!!
There were petitions. Like this one to "save Taco Bell potatoes" with over 22,000 signatures:
And this "Save the Mexican Pizza" petition with a whopping 156,000 signatures and counting:
There were really well-done think pieces that explored the cultural relevance of Taco Bell's vegetarian offerings and how their decisions to cut certain items ended up alienating a huge number of people:
And there was even a "protest" that someone drove by and posted on TikTok:
It was just more bad news in a year filled with bad news.
And then this morning, Taco Bell uploaded this absolute acid trip of a video — in which their CEO is a talking potato — to announce that potatoes would be coming back to Taco Bell:
And now, an announcement from our CEO.
(I mean, really: What in the early-2000s Quiznos commercials is this?)
In it, the CEO/potato explained that the increased demand in their drive-thrus due to COVID-19 required them to simplify their menu, hence cutting the potatoes.
And then he/the potato announced that potatoes would return to the menu on March 11, 2021.
And then he announced that Taco Bell would be "going Beyond" this year — a nod to their new partnership with Beyond Meat.
Exactly which cut menu items will be returning is still unclear, but it's safe to say they aren't taking requests just yet:
@philliptle Can we just let potatoes have their moment?
Either way, we'll be watching and waiting to hear what's next!
