Conner Nuckols
The Communicator

Students looking to get cheap breakfast on the go and are tired of McDonalds, Burger King, and Jack in the Box will be able to try the new Taco Bell breakfast later this month.
On the 27th of March Taco Bell will be launching a breakfast menu that will be available from the time they open until 11:00 a.m., which is a half hour longer than McDonalds. Headlining the menu will be the Waffle Taco, the A.M. Crunchwrap, the A.M. Grilled Taco, the Breakfast Burrito and their cinnabon delights.
McDonald’s has long been the fast-food leader in the mornings, with its popular Sausage Biscuits, Hotcakes and other items pulling in roughly 30 percent of the company’s U.S. sales according to Forbes. The chain had more competition in recent years, with competitors such as Starbucks and Subway rolling out breakfast sandwiches as well.
According to New York Daily News, Kevin Newell, U.S. brand and strategy officer for McDonald’s, seemed unfazed by Taco Bell’s plans to start serving breakfast.
“I think they’re going to find that going into the breakfast business is not like what they’re accustomed to, in terms of marketing,” Newell said.
McDonald’s has considered extending the breakfast hours. But given the kitchen space constraints, serving both lunch and breakfast items at the same time is not feasible. Due to that, McDonalds will have to stop serving breakfast a half hour before Taco Bell.
In a press release, Chris Brandt, the Chief Marketing Officer of Taco Bell believes marketing the new breakfast line won’t be hard due to the breakfast being unique and different in comparison to the competition.
“Breakfast is the fastest growing part of the day in QSR, and after years of the same old thing, we’re confident our breakfast will wake up customers’ morning routine,” said Taco Bell Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Brandt. “Taco Bell will bring them a classic breakfast experience, leading with the Waffle Taco and A.M. Crunchwrap, but also offer a menu of breakfast burritos, tacos and value offerings plus a pipeline of new products to continue waking up breakfast options and connecting with our fans.
If the taco Bell breakfast line succeeds it has the potential to take control over a good percentage of the 10 billion dollar fast food breakfast industry.
Jeff Bennett, a SFCC student who currently works at Burger King thinks that Taco Bell serving breakfast will be successful for them, but that it won’t have a dramatic effect on other fast food chains like people think.
“Every fast food chain tends to copy what is popular,” Bennett said. “McDonalds started the fast food breakfast thing and everyone else has piled on and they are still in business.
“Sure their sales don’t compare to McDonalds but that also has to do with price and marketing.” Bennett explained that when it comes to marketing, McDonalds does a better job than everyone else.
“It seems everywhere I turn I see McDonalds,” Bennett said. “They have commercials on TV and radio left and right, ads on the internet, billboards, you can’t not notice the new material they put out.”
Taco Bell has been testing the new line of breakfast food for a few months in select cities, and according to USA Today they have been exceeding expectations. Later this month students will be able to test the breakfast tacos for themselves, and gauge how worried the competition should really be.