Marketing Gimmicks

Hey Wahoo’s, Stop Treating Our Tacos Like Cheap Hussies

Photo: Five Four

The last two years were huge ones for tacos. L.A’.s biggest street food staples were increasingly subverted from their recognizable forms to make room for a slew of non-Mexican ingredients, achieving further popularity and press coverage. It wasn’t long before the food truck trend that helped put this multi-cultural spin on tacos showed signs of being overtaken by corporations willing to use the trend’s clout for greater brand awareness, with companies like Camarena and THQ using the tacos we love and respect like some sort of wanton harlots just to push their brands. The latest conceivable crime against tacos appears to be going down at Wahoo’s, which we’d already argue is perpetrating offenses against tacos. But what’s the latest?

Apparel company Five Four, makers or pre-patched jeans and $50 flannels, reaches out to tell us they’ve teamed up with Wahoo’s Fish Tacos to release their very own taco menu. The menu will feature four tacos: carnitas, fish, and a veggie taco, plus one called a Stay Skinny taco wrapped in a lettuce leaf. The new tacos roll out on April 1 at the Miracle Mile store (6258 Wilshire Blvd.), priced at $2.69 a piece, with a party being held the night before from 10:00 P.M.-1:00 A.M. to showcase the new eats (you must RSVP). Not long after that, you can catch the eats at other Wahoo’s across the region.

One thing the company doesn’t tell us is just what in the freakin’ world it knows about making tacos. From the look of things, they sure do like their shredded lettuce. But even Camarena put an exciting chef into its truck and THQ posed like it was bringing a new regional specialty to the genre. The value of a clothing company making our tacos is much less harder to grasp, especially if they can’t even make a pair of jeans without holes in them.

Now, we’re not arguing that tacos have feelings too. But clearly, the world of commerce believes that all you have to do is wave a few tortillas around and the kids will come crawling, no matter whether they actually add something innovative or astonishingly delicious to the mix. In other words, stop treating our tacos like cheap hussies, Wahoo’s, and please focus on doing what you already do a little better.

Hey Wahoo’s, Stop Treating Our Tacos Like Cheap Hussies