Taco Bell Rolls Upscale Cantina Bell Menu Nationwide

Taco Bell is about to go head to head with more upscale fast-casual chains like Chipotle, launching its Cantina Bell menu nationally on July 5 with marketing that will feature chef Lorena Garcia, who created the menu.

The chain began testing the menu in January in Louisville, Ky., and Bakersfield, Calif., positioning it as more upscale and fresh, with ingredients such as black beans, “fire-roasted” corn salsa, cilantro rice, pico de gallo and citrus- and herb-marinated chicken that many consumers have come to associate with Chipotle. The Taco Bell prices, however, are lower. The menu will include a Cantina Burrito Bowl and the Cantina Burrito — both with veggie, steak or chicken options — priced under $5; similar items at Chipotle average around $8. The new menu will also include new sides, including chips and guacamole and black beans and rice, each for $1.49.

In marketing, Taco Bell will heavily feature Ms. Garcia, a Miami chef who was featured on “America’s Next Great Restaurant (and appeared alongside Chipotle founder Steve Ells in the show), and who will appear on the new season of Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” starting July 25. Brian Niccol, Taco Bell’s chief marketing and innovation officer said in a statement: “She created a high-quality, value-driven lineup of new offerings and new ingredients that would create a broader array of tastes and flavors our consumers are seeking. “According to the company, Ms. Garcia also influenced the menu by advocating “more ingredients per item and smaller amounts, while improving the build and presentation of the food.”

The TV and digital campaign, created by DraftFCB’s’s Orange County office, will also launch July 5, a key focus of which will be Ms. Garcia and her involvement with Taco Bell in developing the new menu items. Expect the campaign to feature shots of Ms. Garcia preparing her “signature” recipes. The TV commercials will be similar to the test-market spot (seen here), but may have slight variations. The ads will also touch on Taco Bell’s “guarantee” — if “consumers don’t love it, Taco Bell will replace it,” according to the statement. (www.adage.com)

Samsung Uses Sex to Sell Motion-Sensor Technology

Samsung has become something of a regular on the Viral Video Chart. Last week it came in fifth with a video starring man candy David Beckham. This week, it tops the chart with a spot featuring his female equivalent, a Victoria Secret model.

Seductive Motion, which debuted last week with 4.2 million views, shows model Angela Bellotte, in a pair of incredibly short shorts, using the Samsung Smart TV’s new motion-sensor functionality.

Standing in front of Samsung TV, and a giant window in full view of a neighboring office building, the model begins to gesture at the TV. Not knowing that she is just using the motion sensor to adjust the volume, the men in office building mistakenly think that she is waving at each of them. The spot ends as a chaotic sprint of potential suitors, including viral-video legend Isaiah Mustafa, rush to the model’s door only to discover that the only one of them that interests her is the one delivering her pizza.

An infusion of paid placements helped the video to unseat Nike’s’s Summer of Football, which had spent the last two weeks in the No. 1 spot. (www.adage.com)

Nintendo Promises to Revolutionize TV, Somehow

Nintendo wants to steal some of Xbox’s—and maybe Apple’s—living room thunder before it’s too late. And today, during the company’s press event at E3, it boldly promised to do just that by revolutionizing the TV experience. It just won’t say how.

During a presentation that focused mostly on, naturally, what the upcoming Wii U console will do for gaming, executives coyly hinted that something big was coming when it comes to the Wii U’s impact on media. Nintendo’s legendary developer Miyamot Shigeru Miyamotoo predicted that the Wii U controller “will change how you watch TV in your living room” and will be “the first screen people go to in the living room” and “will change the importance of TV screens.”

How? Miyamotoo didn’t elaborate.

The Wii U, which debuts sometime this year, features a tablet-like remote control, which marries the original Wii’s motion-sensitive controlling with the second-complementary-screen nature of devices like the iPad. Clearly, Nintendo wants more users to connect the Wii U to the Web (something many Wii owners didn’t) and they want the Wii U to be a far more social experience (the company unveiled a first look a the social net Miiverse on Sunday). And as first reported by Adweek in February, Nintendo execs are aiming for the Wii U to be a much more of a media consumption hub. (www.adweek.com)

Miracle Whip Takes Its ‘Cause’ to Web

Kraft Foods’ Miracle Whip is shifting its “Keep an open mouth” campaign online with a series of deadpan videos from mcgarrybowen that mimic the look and feel of public service ads.

The agency’s Chicago office produced four videos that will bow on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter tomorrow. Each lasts about a minute and combines sparse music with a seemingly earnest appeal. This time, however, the “cause” is ending “bias” against a maligned sandwich spread—particularly among those who’ve never tasted it.

One video, which resembles a 1990 Bill Cosby pitch for teachers, features comedian Michael Ian Black seated on a folding chair and spouting statistics related to the “unfair judgment against a simple sandwich spread.” All the while, he turns his body awkwardly to conform to a circular camera shot.

Other videos star actor Jeffrey Tambor of The Larry Sanders Show (“Hey now!”) and singer Wynonna Judd. The Tambor video, much like Jeff Bridges’ current plea to end child hunger, includes a montage of people holding handmade signs (“Can’t we all just get a sandwich?”). And Judd, in her video, caresses a bottle of the sandwich spread like Sara McLachlan embraces dogs in PSAs to end animal cruelty. (www.adweek.com)

Budweiser Party Porch Comes To Turn Four

Michigan International Speedway has brought all the amenities of a tailgate to Turn Four. Now, fans can party before, during and after the race, all while overlooking the high-speed action of NASCAR’s soon-to-be fastest racetrack.

The new Budweiser Party Porch at Michigan International Speedway is a respite area and hang-out at the track, all overlooking Turn Four.

The new patio includes concession and merchandise stands, as well as a full bar. Plus, there will be umbrella-covered picnic tables for fans to sit and relax during the day.

The Budweiser Party Porch is open all day and practically all night. The Turn Four Patio is for guests of all ages before and during the race. Guests may bring coolers the meet speedway requirements in to enjoy the area. (www.sponsorship.com)

Molson Coors Now Gears Up for Global Push, Scrambling to Catch Up With Rivals

Molson Coors Brewing Co.’s headquarters boasts commanding views of the Rocky Mountains, home to its Golden plant, the largest beer-making facility in the world.

But the brewer of Coors Light, Molson Canadian and Carling, led by Welsh-born Chief Executive Peter Swinburn, is setting its sights farther afield in a late bid to catch up with more aggressive rivals in a rapidly consolidating and increasingly global industry.

Molson Coors expects to close its $3.5 billion acquisition of Central and East European brewer StarBev LP this month, the biggest purchase ever for the company, whose roots trace back to the 18th century. (www.wsj.com)

Sara Lee Renames Itself Hillshire Brands, Expects a Revamp

Sara Lee Corp. is changing its name to Hillshire Brands Co. and ramping up spending on new products and marketing as it spins off its coffee-and-tea business to focus on packaged meats.

The Downers Grove, Ill., company disclosed the name change at an investor meeting in New York on Tuesday to describe what it will look like later this month, when the company spins off its more successful European coffee-and-tea business, the recently renamed D.E Master Blenders 1753. The split is set to occur June 28. (www.wsj.com)

Using His Fans to Introduce a Girlfriend

FRAGRANCE counters could soon be catching another case of Bieber Fever as they begin selling a second celebrity scent from the young singer Justin Bieber.

Fragrance No. 2, called Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend, is scheduled to arrive the week of June 18 at Macy’s stores, and will also be available this month at retailers like Belk, Dillard’s, Nordstrom and Sephora. Girlfriend will arrive a year after the introduction of the first scent endorsed by Mr. Bieber, Someday, which became the best-selling celebrity fragrance ever and the best-selling new women’s fragrance of any kind brought out in 2011.

As befits a performer whose following is concentrated so much among young people, the campaign to promote Girlfriend, with a budget estimated at $20 million, is focusing on social media like Tumblr and Twitter. Mr. Bieber’s Twitter feed is followed by almost 22.9 million people, and he has close to 44 million “likes” on Facebook. (www.nytimes.com)

US Figure Skating renews with Prudential Financial

US Figure Skating has extended its sponsorship deal with Prudential Financial until the end of 2014.

The partnership includes title sponsorship of the Prudential US Figure Skating Championships in 2013 and 2014, with the latter event serving as the final qualifier for American skaters ahead of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. Prudential will also be an associate sponsor of Hilton HHonors Skate America in 2013 and 2014, with signage and on-site and online activation opportunities. It will also be entitled to branding across US Figure Skating domestic television coverage and will operate grassroots activation programs. (www.sportspromedia.com)

Schwab Aims Video Series At Younger Demo

Charles Schwab has launched an online video series that features Chuck himself providing advice to six real people who have made some questionable spending decisions.

The effort, called “Oh, Chuck! I Blew My Cash,” highlights something everyone can relate to: spending too much on an impulse purchase, as opposed to saving and investing for a long-term goal.

The videos are featured on Schwab’s Web site, YouTube channel and Facebook page.

The effort is geared for investors ages 25 and older who are in the life stage of accumulating their assets, said Charles Schwab Chief Marketing Officer Laurine Garrity. (www.mediapost.com)

Hyundai Names National Fuel-Efficiency Month

Hyundai Motor America is touting its most fuel-efficient car company status proffered by the EPA with a national campaign that aims to make August officially “Fuel Efficiency Month.” The effort, replete with an official White House petition, includes a summer marketing push about Hyundai’s fuel economy leadership mated to a a digital education campaign with tips and content about how one can cut fuel consumption and emissions.

The automaker launched the campaign on June 5, World Environmental Day, placing the petition on http://wh.gov/zAa, and running four simultaneous events in New York, Austin, Chicago and Las Vegas, the substance of which will form the basis of a TV and video campaign later this summer.

Steve Shannon, VP of marketing at the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based automaker, tells Marketing Daily that the kernel of the idea was planted two months ago when the the EPA came out with the annual study of average fuel economy. Hyundai Motor America got top ranking in the U.S. market for fuel economy and CO2 emissions in the Light-Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy Trends Report, which looked at 2010 model-year vehicles.

“The 2011 interim data has us with an even bigger lead,” he says. “We started thinking about how to communicate this.” Shannon says Hyundai’s AOR Innocean got the idea to make it a petition drive. “They discovered that there is a day or month for everything — there’s ‘National Shrimp Scampi Day,’ [April 29] and ‘Talk Like A Pirate’ Day’ — but nothing at all promoting fuel economy. We felt that it deserves a day, and probably a month. We’d like to have it sell some Hyundais, but also improve the environment.” (www.mediapost.com)
Denny’s In 50-State Check-In Challenge

To promote the release of its first mobile app, Denny’s is offering free Grand Slam breakfasts for a year to a lucky winner (or team) who checks into Denny’s locations in all 50 U.S. states.

The launch of the challenge kicks off Denny’s latest “Tour of America” menu, which features regional breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert specialties from around the country.

To participate in the challenge, diners need to check in at Denny’s locations across the country using the new mobile app, available via the Google Play Store for Android Apps and the Apple App Store.

The challenge will be live on the app for a year. For every check-in during that time, users will unlock a digital “state souvenir” and various badges that deliver rewards, in-store offers and redeemable coupons. (www.mediapost.com)