# Is the Taco Bell chihuaha DEAD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2000, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868 "2000-08-10T18:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/1 "2000-08-10T18:43:55Z")
[The Truth About The Taco Bell Chihuahua](http://www.vbulletin.com) Can anyone confirm this? Have we been rid of the pint-sized menace? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/2 "2000-08-10T19:01:16Z")
We can only pray. Yo quiero perro muerto ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/3 "2000-08-10T19:16:24Z")
**Outrider** - your link took me to the vBulletin home page… If the little chihuahua did kick the ol’ bucket, I’d be sure to stay away from the beef burritos for a couple weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/4 "2000-08-10T19:22:23Z")
Sorry about the messed up URL. They were watching me. I had to move fast. Trust no one… Taco Bell agents lurk everywhere. Here’s the _real_ link. Just remember: you didn’t hear it from me. [The Truth About the Taco Bell Chihuaha](http://industry.adcritic.com/adnewz/article.php3?sid=12&mode=threaded&order=0) ---
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/5 "2000-08-10T19:49:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Denbo \* > \*\*If the little chihuahua did kick the ol’ bucket, I’d be sure to stay away from the beef burritos for a couple weeks. \*\* Our worst fears have been confirmed. This is from [satirewire.com](http://satirewire.com): > [@](#): > > Taco Bell Chihuahua Fired; > New Chalupa “Tastes Funny” > > New York, N.Y. ([SatireWire.com](http://SatireWire.com)) — One week after falling sales caused Taco Bell to ditch its famous Chihuahua, the company unveiled a reformulated chalupa, described as a “crispy, flaky shell with sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and a new, tough-and-stringy meat product that tastes like chicken.” The company insisted the new chalupa, which will be sold “as long as supplies last,” has nothing to do with the beloved Chihuahua, who was popularized in Taco Bell ads but did little to help sales. “We still love that little dog,” said spokesman Gary Ebehardt, “especially with a side order of zesty Mexican rice.” > > Concurrent with the Chihuahua’s firing, Taco Bell parent company Tricon Global Restaurants Inc., also replaced Taco Bell president Peter C. Waller, who it said “will be pursuing other interests” as part of a nutritious Fiesta Breakfast Burrito. ---
**Author:** ![eyor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@eyor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eyor)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/6 "2000-08-10T19:56:54Z")
This is a good place for debunking ULs: [http://www.delphi.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=ab-urbanlegends&msg=2883.1](http://www.delphi.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=ab-urbanlegends&msg=2883.1) {that should link directly to the taco bell dog story(or at least one of them)} ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/7 "2000-08-10T20:10:18Z")
So that annoyong little ratdog is finally gone? There is a God. To answer the person on that last link: The air at twenty or thirty thousand feet is very, very cold. If the dog was thrown into the wrong cargo hold, it might have spent most of the trip in sub-zero temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/8 "2000-08-10T20:33:27Z")
I’ve heard the announcement that Taco Bell will be dropping the Chihuahua but I was startled to hear a chalupa commercial with a different, non-hispanic sounding, voice. ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/9 "2000-08-10T23:04:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > \*\*I was startled to hear a chalupa commercial with a different, non-hispanic sounding, voice. \*\* You don’t think they put the hispanic in the wrong cargo hold?? (a joke, a joke. Yo quiero some real Tex-Mex though. Hard to find in New England) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/10 "2000-08-11T00:32:43Z")
I heard Pepsico euthanized him by feeding him several packets of Pop Rocks and then letting him lap up a popular soft drink. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/11 "2000-08-11T00:42:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I was startled to hear a chalupa commercial with a different, non-hispanic sounding, voice Most likely, more fallout from the never-ending actors’ strike. The actor who does the Taco Dog is a union actor, which left Taco Bell with three choices: 1. Sign an interim agreement with the unions, basically agreeing to their conditions, so they can continue using the union talent. The ad people are out to bust the unions, so this isn’t an option for the bigger agencies or advertisers. 2. Keep re-running the existing commercials. We all know how funny the Taco Dog ads are after you’ve seen them twenty or thirty times.\* 3. Retire the Taco Dog and come up with something new they can do without union actors. Clearly, this is the option they decided to go with. \*This reminds me of what the 1-800-CALL-ATT people have done with their annoying David Arquette ads. Since they can’t use him to make new commercials until the strike ends, they’ve been re-editing the existing material into new forms. You may have noticed the martial-arts-themed ad, the one with the “Matrix”-style effect, that’s similar to but not quite the same as one they ran a few months ago. They assembled the currently-running one from outtakes from the previous shoot, so as to make a “new” ad out of existing material. Similarly, they’ve done at least one “greatest hits” commercial using bits and pieces of all of the Arquette ads, so you get a glimpse of him with the pool cue, then with the football in his helmet, etc., etc. …Am I the only one who’s been noticing the effects of the actors’ strike? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/12 "2000-08-11T05:43:08Z")
Taco Bell was considering dropping the dog at this time last year. They ended up giving the dog smaller and smaller roles in the commercials. A couple of months ago I recall a mention in Wall Street Journal marketing section saying that TB was going to go ahead and pull the plug on the dog. That’s pretty much it, open and shut. So now he’s frozen to death in a cargo hold? That sounds _way_ too dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-taco-bell-chihuaha-dead/28868/13 "2000-08-11T12:05:56Z")
I heard he died in Vietnam. :D:D