Hacienda Does It Again!

If you're a regular reader of my blog (as millions are), you know of my fascination with regional Mexican restaurant chain Hacienda and their series of increasingly puzzling billboards.

Hacienda's marketing campaign seems to be based on the old adage that "There's No Such Thing As Bad Publicity." To that end, they regularly feature billboards with controversial messages, apparently for no other reason than to get people talking about them. You can see some of their past dubious efforts here.

This is their latest billboard, that I spotted just down the street a couple days ago. There's nothing particularly controversial about this one, but it is mystifying.

Just what the hell is "Adult" Mac-N-Cheese? What does that even mean? How is mac-n-cheese adult?

Does it mean it's extra spicy, and kids won't be able to handle it? Do they pour a little alcohol in the cheese sauce? Or does it mean the pasta's x-rated, and is shaped like pee-pees and hoo-has?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Roly-Poly Fish Heads!

Over the weekend I saw this new billboard for regional Mexican restaurant chain Hacienda (that means "house!").

OK, I get that it's supposed to be humorous, but I'm afraid it's gonna backfire on them. Somehow the image of an entire dead, raw fish wedged between two bun doesn't exactly whet my appetite, or make me want to rush out to Hacienda.

One of these days I would dearly love to sit in on one of Hacienda's marketing meetings, if for no other reason than to see what horrifying ideas they decide NOT to use in their advertising!

This isn't the first time bizarre ad Hacienda has run. You can see a brief history of their insane marketing here.

Oh, Hacienda, You've Done It Again!

Regional restaurant chain Hacienda (that's "house" to you and me) is in hot water yet again for their latest billboard. The ad reads, "The Best Mexican Food This Side Of The Wall," and is obviously a jab at human pumpkin Donald Trump and his insane plan to build a barrier between the U.S. and our neighbor to the South.

Naturally, tons of people here in the no-fun Offended States Of America lost their sh*t and complained bitterly about the billboard, calling it tasteless and offensive.

I'm glad to see all other problems in our nation have been solved, so we can finally focus our efforts on outrage over a goddamned billboard. For the record, I thought the billboard was mildly amusing at best, but I'm not the least bit offended by it. I've got better things to do than try to get a billboard taken down.

Sam Centellas, executive director of La Casa de Amistad (that's the House of Friendship to you and me) was foremost among the whiners, saying, "There's a difference between being funny and being offensive. What I'd love to hear is how do their employees feel and how are they treated in a culture that regularly puts out pretty offensive advertising related to Latino culture?"

Well first of all, Sam, the billboard isn't making fun of Latino culture. It's making fun of the loudmouthed orange homunculus that's pretending to run for president. As for what Hacienda's employees think, they're no doubt far too busy working three jobs in an effort to get by to worry about a message on a billboard.

Hacienda's Executive Vice President Jeff Lesie said, "We don't intend to upset anybody, but we do use humor. When you use humor, there's going to be some groups that are particularly sensitive to certain things."

Supposedly Hacienda caved in to the whiners and promised to remove the billboards around the state. Either they were lying, or they just haven't got to my city yet, because they're still up.

Hacienda is no stranger to advertising controversy. A few years ago they ran this billboard. As you no doubt know, many hospitals use the "code" terminology to alert the staff of an emergency without alarming the public. Code Red means "Emergency." Code Blue means "Cardiac Arrest." And Code Brown means "Patient has soiled themselves, their bed and possibly the walls, bring a mop and bucket." Probably not something you want your clientele to think about while they're eating your highly volatile Mexican food.

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Earlier this year they ran this ad, which I assume is a play on "Sh*t Faced." Crude and provocative perhaps, but not offensive.

And then there's this one, which is obviously a reference to the Jonestown Massacre. Yeah, this really happened-- it's not one of my Photoshop fakes. Even I have to admit they went too far with this one. Especially with the little "To Die For" tag, which is like one final little twist of the knife. Jesus Christ! I guess they couldn't think of any Holocaust-related food puns?

Chip Faced

Take a look at this billboard I recently saw for Hacienda, a regional Mexican restaurant chain here in Indiana. Their food's pretty good, but they're definitely not taking the high road with their marketing strategy. 

Obviously their "Get Chip Faced" slogan is a thinly disguised version of "sh*t faced." That has to be what it means, right? I can't think of anything else they could be going for here.

Oddly enough this isn't the first time they've done something like this. A while back they were running these "Code Brown" billboards all around town. 

As you no doubt know, many hospitals use the "code" terminology to alert the staff of an emergency without alarming the public. Code Red means "Emergency." Code Blue means "Cardiac Arrest." And Code Brown means "Patient has soiled themselves, their bed and possibly the walls, bring a mop and bucket."

Someone on the Hacienda Marketing Team is definitely a big fan of turd-based advertising puns.

BADvertising

Get a load of this billboard for local Mexican restaurant Hacienda. It features a nurse displaying a desert dish that consists of an enormous cookie topped with three scoops of ice cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup.

Some overpaid corporate genius at Hacienda's headquarters got the bright idea to name this desert, "Code Brown." Oh, how I wish I could have sat in on the marketing meeting for this promotion, just so I could find out how this idea ever got out the door.

As everyone knows by now, many hospitals use the "code" terminology to alert the staff of an emergency, without alarming the public. The meanings of the codes vary from hospital to hospital, but generally they go like this:

Code Red: Emergency
Code Blue: Cardiac arrest, bring the crash cart
Code Brown: Patient has soiled themselves, bring a mop and bucket

What would possess a company to use that terminology on their restaurant billboard? Especially one promoting chocolate?

And lest you think it might have been an innocent mistake, my boss pointed out that the obviously fake nurse in the ad is named "Tina LaDuttie." That's "LaDuttie," pronounced like "doodie." That pretty much proves it was deliberate.

Some friendly advice for the Hacienda marketing team: Customers generally don't care to think about poo while they're eating Mexican food (though they'll be thinking about it all too soon the day after). Especially chocolate covered Mexican food. Perhaps next time you should pick a name for your desert that doesn't remind people of an uncontrollable bowel movement.