A family in Florida ordered Taco Bell delivery, and minutes after it was placed on their porch, a bear, YES A REAL BEAR, stole it and even came back for the drinks. It was captured with Ring camera footage and circulated widely on both national news platforms and TikTok alike.
We wanted to react in real time and do something special for the family while also tying the opportunity back to the business to help drive sales.
In order to capitalize on this moment in real time, we quickly sent our TikTok creator team down to Florida in a bear suit with a custom-made bear-proof cooler, Taco Bell swag, gift cards, and of course their order, freshly replaced. How could we leave this family hanging with no Taco Bell? Hope the bear enjoyed it.
To respond, we duetted The Today Show’s TikTok where they covered the event on the news with footage of the bear “paying back its debts” to the family and returning the food and presents back to their doorstep. We utilized new authentic Ring camera footage from the family as well.
In addition to creating engaging content, we created a custom deal in the Taco Bell app where members got free delivery (courtesy of the bear) that same day.
On Taco Bell’s duetted video there were 572.1K views and the 16.6-second video saw an average view time of 14.69 seconds. Taco Bell’s Instagram Reel got 577K views and 10.2K likes. Thousands of fans were entertained and The Today Show even jumped into the comment section engaging with our organic video.
TikTok users created their own videos reacting to the news, referencing other human-food-hungry bears in culture, and even trying to guess what the family’s $45 Taco Bell order could have been. The video allowed us to not only entertain our audience on TikTok but also create a moment of engagement with culture at large by responding to something in real time.
But the most important thing we learned? That bears love Taco Bell and that there are bears in Florida.
