Serious Brands Are Allowed to Be Silly: Lessons From Taco Bell

A multi-billion dollar brand with a product that isn't serious

Jeremiah Wassom looks back on his work with Taco Bell and points to one truth that came to light along the way: the product is not serious. Taco Bell is a multi-billion dollar company with fans around the world, but what it actually sells is fun. The food leans on qualities that are cheesy, melty and gooey, and nobody eats a gooey, cheesy taco and expects a solemn brand experience to go with it. That honest read of the product became the starting point for the creative work.

Room to be loose, fun and experimental

Once the team accepted that the product itself was playful, the marketing could follow. In Wassom's words, they were able to dive deep into work that was looser, more fun and more experimental, and they were allowed to be more silly. That permission matters. Many brands have the resources to produce polished, controlled campaigns, but resources are not the same as fit. When the tone of the work matches the true character of the product, audiences can tell, and silliness stops feeling like a gimmick and starts feeling like the brand being itself.

People create their own stories

The idea at the center of the video is that people create their own stories with a product. A brand can write its messaging carefully, but customers will bring their own jokes, memories and rituals to it anyway. Wassom says the bravest and smartest clients understand this. Rather than trying to control every interpretation, they loosen their grip and give people room to play alongside them. That openness can build far more affection than tight control ever could, because the audience feels invited into the story instead of being talked at.

What marketers can take from this

The lesson is not that every brand should become a joke. The lesson is to start from the truth of the product and ask what tone actually fits it. For a brand like Taco Bell, that tone is playful. For another brand it might be weird, cheesy or experimental, and for another it might be quiet and sincere. What matters is the willingness to let go of the idea that seriousness equals credibility, and to trust that the audience will meet you partway.

It also takes courage on the client side. Approving something silly means accepting that the result will not be fully predictable, and that people will remix it in ways nobody planned. Wassom's point is that this is a feature rather than a risk. The brands that earn the right to be a little ridiculous are the ones that have the confidence to let their audience help tell the story.

Over to you

Which brand has earned the right to be a little ridiculous? It is worth asking about your own brand too: where is the product already fun, and where are you holding on too tightly?

This article is based on Take #16 from The Many Takes.