In a grand public-spirited gesture, the multibillion-dollar corporation doing business as Taco Bell has filed a petition to allow everyone (not to mention Taco Bell) to use the phrase “Taco Tuesday”, which was trademarked 34 years ago by a much smaller chain, Taco John’s.
Now if “Taco Tuesday” had been on the enormous list of trademarks held or applied for by Taco Bell and a taco joint started using it in a promotion, we can be sure that Taco Bell would’ve graciously allowed it and not sicced its lawyers on the restaurant.
I saw this story yesterday, and my first thought was, “Someone trademarked Taco Tuesday?” A trademark is supposed to help with brand identification. How many people associate Taco Tuesday with Taco John’s?
I’m more of an “any day but Tuesday” taco guy. “Taco Tuesday” tacos are almost always substandard to the usual tacos at the same restaurant. Either stingy on the portions, or excluding anything like fish or beef. One place around here, actually removes the all-you-can-eat tortilla chips on Tuesdays.
If you happen to live in an area where Taco John’s actually operates, you very well might.
I spent six years in Madison, Wisconsin (getting my bachelor’s, then my master’s, at the University of Wisconsin); there are – or, at least, were – several Taco John’s locations there, and they advertised frequently on the local radio stations.
One of their ads, which ran every Tuesday, was, indeed, for their Taco Tuesday promotion. It’s been decades, and I can still hear the ad in my head: “Taco Tuuuuuesday, Taco Tuuuuuesday – two hard-shell tacos, just 99 cents!”
I think the question Taco Bell is asking is if the phrase has been used so frequently outside of Taco John’s advertising sphere that is has become part of common public vernacular. I, for one, thought it was just something clever taco restaurants used to get you into their restaurants on Tuesday - the cafe at work called it taco Tuesday - I never heard of Taco John’s.
It seems similar to the whole “Happy Birthday” song and royalties we were all supposed to send somewhere whenever we sing that song. As the article states, I am sure Taco Bell will just end up cutting Taco John’s a fat check to agree to end the trademark - they can afford it.
Well, for a “public performance,” anyway. Singing it at home, not so much.
My understanding is that, until the song was finally declared to be in the public domain (2016, according to Wikipedia), the enduring copyright on the song was why chain restaurants (e.g., Applebee’s) didn’t allow their servers to sing that song when they’d bring out a birthday dessert to a guest – they always had some other song or chant that they’d have the servers use.
Conversely, I’d often hear the song sung at little mom-and-pop restaurants; my suspicion is that the little restaurants either (a) didn’t know about the copyright issue, or (b) didn’t think that the copyright holder would care to pursue it with a tiny restaurant (and they were likely right).
But, a big chain, with dozens or hundreds of locations? They’re big enough that it would have been worth the time for the former copyright holders on “Happy Birthday To You” to go after them, if they learned that the song was being sung by their staff.
Me? Taco Tuesday at Taco John’s has been a staple of my life since I was a kid (so, over thirty years now). I don’t eat as much fast food nowadays, but if I happen to be out and about on a Tuesday, I’ll likely swing in and grab a few tacos. If I’m out and want a fast food breakfast, a burrito from TJs is a great option (chorizo, cheese, egg, and jalapeno; quite tasty).
For those who don’t have them nearby, Taco John’s is far, far superior to Taco Bell.
Not only did I not know it had anything to do with Taco Johns, but I didn’t even know the phrase was associated with a restaurant. I always thought of it as a family thing that you made at home.
We have Taco John’s here in town, they are much better than Taco Bell, and I have long associated Taco Tuesday with TJ’s (originally two tacos for 99 cents, but prices have gone up). They also used to have Softshell Sundays but that one didn’t seem to catch on like Taco Tuesday did.
Never heard of Taco John’s before. Never knew the phrase as anything but an industry standard marketing gimmick that most Mexican restaurants and some Mexican-adjacent fast food places used.
Another common one is Prime Rib Thursday. That meal is on special that day at probably 3/4ths of the sports bars and TGIFriday’s-like midrange casual places around here.
As with Taco Tuesday, by all of the competing restaurants putting the same special on the same day of the week, you can’t get cheap tacos or cheap prime rib every day of the week just by visiting a different place. Makes more money for them that way.
