Sometimes considered one of the most successful marketing strategies ever, Subway made its name as a healthy fast-food alternative to hamburgers and french-fries. Their lead spokesman, Jared Fogle, claimed dramatic weight loss could be attained while eating certain items from the restaurant’s menu (along with vague references to exercise). Apparently taking a page from Subway’s playbook, Taco Bell began its foray into the same market by introducing its new ‘Drive-Thru Diet’ late last year. Just like its sandwich-serving adversary, Taco Bell has decided to give the new marketing campaign a face. Meet Christine Dougherty. Complete with before and after bikini shots, Dougherty boasts she lost 54 pounds thanks (in part, at least) to what she believes are healthy options in Taco Bell’s ‘Fresco’ menu. The menu, which has existed for some time but is now being pushed heavily by the company, consists of a few items relatively low in calories. It achieves this feat by focusing on salsa for flair and ditching cheeses and sauces, which would add to the calorie count. Seeing the commercial for the first time, I was waiting to hear the punch line. I thought almost certainly that the commercial was a joke. After seeing the commercial three times, I was able to understand that, in fact, they were being serious. The company that once tried to establish the ‘fourth meal’ was now promoting healthy eating habits. Of course, the advertisements are full of stipulations and fine print. Even as the ad flaunts Christine’s miraculous weight loss – like the typical diet pill scams on television – she inserts the disclaimer, stating her results ‘aren’t typical, but for me, they’re fantastic.’ In fact, the Drive-Thru Diet ‘is not a weight-loss program,’ according to the advertisement. Why include the results in a commercial if they’re not typical? Like Subway’s campaign, the company positioned the goal posts in such a way that these health claims can be made but are highly unlikely to be achieved by regular people. Just as the case was with Jared, it’s not made clear exactly how much exercise was needed for Christine to drop the weight, as well as how many times she ate fast-food before changing the diet. After reading the fine print it becomes evident that, to achieve the same success, patrons would have to order no-frills meals and operate under a meager 1250 calorie diet every day – similar assumptions were made when Jared was leading Subway’s marketing efforts. Besides being criticized on nutritional grounds – several of the items have drawn ire for being high in sodium and fat —- the new ad campaign raises questions about the implications of such health claims. Do campaigns like this actually improve public health? On the one hand, there is no question the new menu being pushed by Taco Bell is relatively healthier than its other offerings and most traditional fast-food restaurants. It would be a good thing if people would eat Taco Bell’s lighter menu items in favor of double cheeseburgers. But at the same time, the new campaign could complicate matters by giving customers a false sense of security in eating fast-food from Taco Bell. When all cards are on the table, the company’s advertisements showing a woman losing weight ‘- and then claiming the results are not typical ‘- seems more like a ploy to capitalize on American’s guilt resulting from their eating habits than a genuine attempt to help customers make healthy decisions. Some fast-food restaurants having healthy choices as a central part of their business plan is certainly a positive trend. But we can only hope this new trend brings real results ‘- healthier and higher-quality food ‘- instead of hypothetical scenarios. Mark Macmurdo is a 22-year-old history and economics senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mmacmurdo. —- Contact Mark Macmurdo at [email protected]