Over the summer, fast food giant Taco Bell unveiled a new product that excited many: the Doritos Locos Taco. I know what you’re thinking, awesome right? Yeah, because who doesn’t love cheese infused corn chips while they munch on a blend of veggies, hot sauce, and some magical type of mystery meat that seems to hit the spot for some reason that I’d rather not know... (just kidding, it is actual meat). You can thank capitalism for this match made in heaven.
Now when you think about Taco Bell, what comes to mind? Cheap, quick bite to eat, late night, etc. Unconventional fast food is what they seem to specialize in. They differ from most other places in that they offer a cuisine that is not based on traditional American places (i.e. burgers, fries). Taco Bell utilizes Tex-Mex recipes (subpar, might I add) in order to gain a different piece of the market that isn’t looking for an average burger and average fries. They are looking for average burritos, tacos, chalupas and whatever other goodies Taco Bell has. They have taken advantage of this absence within the market and ran with it.
In a communist country, competition wouldn’t be necessary. Revolutions such as the addition of cheese to their taco shells may not happen. The demand would never exist and they would forever live in ignorance and continue to eat plain tacos without knowing the existence of the Doritos Locos Taco. By bringing Doritos into play, Taco Bell is demonstrating the power of demand that the consumer has. By bringing two massively popular products together, they have combined two huge markets and have seen windfall of new customers this year as a result. Those smart folks at the helm of this operation knew this product would click within their target market and formed a perfect union that greatly helped their business in protecting the future of their operations.
I found this article very interesting and inventive. While Dorritos Locos Tacos are not the number one pro in favor of capitalism, it does show how communist systems can leave things at a bare minimum in productivity and creativity. Because of our capitalist system, Taco Bell was able to expand their business and create a new product to capture more consumers. This article especially highlights the aspects of competition in capitalists economies. While Taco Bell is on a much less important scale (for some people) we can apply the same principles to something that could greatly benefit the population. Capitalist systems encourage companies to compete and make better products to make a profit, and will therefore benefit society. I think we can all agree that the Doritos Locos Tacos is a greater benefit to our society than if we just had regular tacos.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you attribute the advent of these Dorito-infused tacos to capitalism. You mainly talk about how it is the competitive element of our capitalist society that encourages such "outside the bun" innovation to take place, and this definitely has much validity. However, I wonder too how much capitalism is responsible for the introduction of innovative products for the sake of having innovative products. What I mean by this is, in addition to the need for a new competitive edge against other fast food chains, Taco Bell might have decided to implement this new idea simply because it hadn't been done before - simply because they liked the idea of offering such an unconventional item on the menu. Because they pride themselves on the selection of food items they offer, and saw this new taco as an opportunity to flaunt this pride.
ReplyDeleteCould this type of approach to business decisions also be the product of our capitalist society? After all, capitalism does encourage innovation. The question is whether this innovation is inspired only by competition, or also by pride and excitement for innovation itself.
Joel, I found your blog quite amusing in a sarcastic, droll way. Anyway, it's not really relevant to the academic aspect to the article, but my sister always used to crunch up Doritos and sprinkle them on her tacos, so I think she might be a marketing genius (then again, she also puts fries on her Big Macs, and I don't really see that happening soon). Anyway, I really liked how you connected capitalism to something we're all aware of. While I haven't ever had a Doritos Loco Taco (I always get a Meximelt with extra cheese and no Pico de Gallo, which is delicious), I definitely know it. You could have just talked about something boring and simply conceptual, but you chose something interesting as well. I personally think that this sort of thing is what makes capitalism effective; when you have want to make a huge profit, you're motivated to come up with the best ideas you possibly can. If there was no capitalism, all these fast food restaurants would just be all "oh, it's edible. Slap a wrapper on it and give it to the public." They would have no incentive to make their product the best. The way it is in capitalism, the seller needs to analyze what the market would enjoy the most, and then they tailor their product to please the most people. I know it might create hierarchies, but I think that capitalism is probably the best sort of government because people are always striving to be the best or get the best out of something.
ReplyDeleteWow! This is the bomb diggity.
ReplyDeleteHaha this is one of the most amusing articles I've read all year from poli sci. I think doritos locos tacos are the best rewards for capitalism besides all of those other boring things. Being able to get more consumer by creating a new product is one of the most important and exciting things for businesses to do in our system. If we were communist we might have to say goodbye to the taco. The idea that businesses have the ability to compete is what really defines our capitalist society. Plus communism really sucks.
ReplyDeleteAs a person that never really enjoyed Doritos, I accordingly didn't get too excited about Doritos Locos Tacos. However, I can see it's value in a capitalist economy, though I might not see it as too valuable in itself. I think that the competition that exists in a capitalist economy is the cause for innovation of all types. It might not always be innovation for the best (like how I see the Doritos Locos Tacos), but it is also the reason for the bigger and better things that exist in our society today.
ReplyDeleteIf we were to live in a society in which there was no competition, no one would try to make their products better because there would be no point. An economy based on the demand of consumers forces the suppliers to improve their products in order for them to be able to sell to the consumers. Though I might not be a huge fan of the Doritos Locos Tacos, there were plenty of people that were more than excited for their favorite snack to be combined with tacos. Catering to the customers should be important to the suppliers, not only because it makes for new and better products, but also that it gives them an opportunity to compete for their benefit as well.