Taco Bell and Pop Tarts Advertise the Wrong Percentages

This week is a two part special from two different food products:

Technically there is no fine print during the Taco Bell ad, but the Pop Tart one relates to it:

12% signature recipe? Only 10% fruit? Gross! Why would they even advertise this? Granted, Taco Bell is running this campaign in reaction to a lawsuit claiming their beef is only 35% real. However, marketing to a nationwide audience that their beef is 12% weird ingredients is still not the best idea. Their website even tries to explain what the secret ingredients are in almost a power point presentation. As for Pop Tarts, what is the other 90%? Sugar? Goo? Their website also states the facts that it is dried fruit and the Post has a good article about it as well. Do people actually eat Taco Bell and Pop Tarts for their nutritional value? Of course Pop Tarts are just sugar and Taco Bell is not real meat, but that does not mean they should be advertising it.

Thanks to reader Sarah Stone for the idea submission.

Groupon's Expiring Ad Campaign

Among the most memorable commercials from the Super Bowl was from GroupOn:

While the discussion was about Timothy Hutton misleading the viewers about Tibet’s troubles, I of course noticed the fine print:

(If you can't read it, "Actual deal ended on 10/23/10")

While it is common to see expiration dates in the fine print, they are not usually three months expired. Oddly enough, people who know about GroupOn know that their deals are only for one day and in the city you signed up for, so the fine print is for people who actually wanted the deal at that restaurant. Maybe Groupon is just trying to avoid getting sued, oops, too late. At least Conan got some laughs out of it.