The Truth of Advertising

1. The Truth of Advertising Roberto’s Taco Stand

2. The Problem • An advertising firm was hired by a local Mexican restaurant. • The problem was that all Mexican food is pretty much the same. • And it all requires pretty much the same medication afterward. But we were getting paid by Roberto’s restaurant, not the Pepto Bismol people. • Our job was getting butts in seats. What happened to them afterward was none of our concern.

3. The Bait • The Mexican food biz is a competitive game, perhaps nowhere more-so than in Southern California. • Convincing jaded Los Angelos that Roberto’s merited consideration when one had ones people call another’s to arrange the "doing" of lunch depended on standing out from the crowd. • Roberto’s proprietorship prided itself most on the authenticity of its cuisine.

4. The Hook • Research turned up an interesting fact: the employees of Roberto's never seemed to be around for long. • Every week there were always new people. At first, we thought they were all enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America. • As it turned out, the problem wasn’t the CIA at all. It was the INS. • So the ad company was struck with a novel idea for the creative strategy: tell the truth.

6. Measurable results • The results were dramatic. • Word-of-mouth about the posters generated a feature story in a local surfing magazine, and sent restaurant traffic through the roof. • The company had to run a second printing of the posters when patrons began requesting copies, or otherwise appropriating them for home display.