Yum! Brands, the parent of Taco Bell, plans to appeal a verdict that awarded $30 million to two Michigan men who sued the restaurant chain, accusing it of stealing their idea for an advertising campaign featuring a talking Chihuahua.
The two men, Thomas Rinks and Joseph Shields, filed the suit in January 1998 claiming that Taco Bell had asked them to create a mascot for a new advertising campaign. Rink and Shields, who in 1995 founded marketing company Wrench LLC, met with Taco Bell officials in 1996 and 1997 to develop the concept of the talking dog. The restaurant chain broke off talks and moved forward to use the Chihuahua character without compensating Rinks and Shields, according to news reports.
Taco Bell, Irvine, CA, has said that the Chihuahua character was created by ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day in Los Angeles.
“Taco Bell continues to strongly believe that the Chihuahua character was created by the Chiat-Day advertising agency, not the plaintiffs,” Laurie Gannon, a Taco Bell spokesperson, said in a statement.
The company also said that it expects the plaintiffs may file for pre-judgement interest of $5 to 10 million. If the appeal is unsuccessful, Yum! Brands said it would seek reimbursement from its insurance carriers and Chiat-Day.
TBWA/Chiat/Day declined to comment on the case.
The campaign, started in July 1997 and now defunct, became wildly popular and branched out to include licensing toys, tee-shirts and other promotional products.
The 1998 suit was dismissed based on a technical issue; in 1998, when Taco Bell ended the campaign, Rinks and Shields appealed the case. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed the ruling in 2001 and Taco Bell lost a Supreme Court appeal that resulted in the jury trial that began last month in the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, MN.
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