Much has been said about the recent “breakfast wars” that escalated after Taco Bell rolled out its unique, millennial-minded breakfast menu last week.
The menu itself is noteworthy as it includes a waffle taco, “A.M. Crunchwraps” and “Cinnabon Delights.” Prior to this rollout, such menu items have only existed in the fantasies of young people everywhere.
Interestingly, though, the new products were quickly eclipsed by the tactics used to drum up support. Most notably, Taco Bell launched a commercial featuring several men named Ronald McDonald endorsing the new menu.
The life-long McDonald’s customer (and former intern at McDonald’s Corporation) in me felt defensive. However, the advertising student in me was impressed. It’s rare (and risky) for brands to reference a competitor directly in any form of advertising, but this was really well done.
Fortunately for brand nerds and fast food lovers alike, McDonald’s had a surprisingly awesome comeback:
More importantly, McDonald’s announced it would offer free coffee during breakfast time at stores across the country until the middle of April.
It was after this exciting development that it hit me.
Sure, brands cyber-bullying each other is fun, but the real take-away from the breakfast wars is that competition rules. When companies innovate, launch new products or offer some form of value to customers, competitors feel pressure. This pressure leads said competitor(s) to get creative and find their own way to entice customers. For example: free coffee.
The above scenario is a very basic example of a little thing called capitalism, but it’s something that seems to be disappearing in many industries.
Comcast is trying to devour Time Warner Cable — its largest competitor.
Facebook continues to binge-acquire growing tech companies.
By the looks of it, Amazon is looking to rule every industry eventually.
The list could go on and on, but the commonality across all of these mergers, acquisitions and conglomerations is that the biggest loser is us — the average American consumer. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but the lack of competition in many industries will not be enjoyable.
So, for now, I’m going to enjoy the breakfast wars because innovation motivated by competition is a good thing — especially when it involves free coffee and waffle tacos.
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