This Song Was In Taco Bell's Most Popular 2023 Commercial (& It Wasn't Green Day's)

Summary Taco Bell's 2023 ad features bludnymph's "FEAST" song, connecting with Gen Z through social media appeal.

Green Day's "Look Ma, No Brains!" song in another 2023 ad targets Gen X, promoting their album Saviors.

Taco Bell's marketing strategy includes iconic jingles, celebrity collaborations, and memorable ads to stay relevant.

A memorable Taco Bell commercial from 2023 features a catchy song that isn't the easiest to place and which many may confuse with a song from Green Day. Taco Bell is one of the largest multinational fast food chains with over 7000 locations worldwide (via Food&Wine). With that global presence comes a massive marketing engine that powers interest in the locations and ensures the constantly rotating menu of Mexican-inspired foodstuffs is always on someone's mind when they start getting hungry. That purple Taco "Bell" is as iconic to fast food as the McDonald's golden arches or the Burger King crown.

Taco Bell has used many different advertising strategies since it opened in 1962 (via Taco Bell). They've frequently done stunts to sell their food, including a "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" gimmick during the World Series (via Forbes). Unlike other fast food brands, Taco Bell has not generally used specific spokespeople or actors in their commercials and instead features groups of people or uses a talking Chihuahua named Gidget. What remains the same is the dinging bell sound at the end of each commercial, though two 2023 commercials threaten to overpower that jingle with the songs they feature.

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Bludnymph's "FEAST" Song Was In The Most-Watched 2023 Taco Bell Commercial

"FEAST" Also Appeared In A Heartbreak High Episode

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In the most-watched 2023 Taco Bell ad (via Adweek), the song "FEAST" by the artist bludnymph is played over scenes of teens sitting in a parking lot enjoying their Double Steak Grilled Cheese Burritos. The ad lasts 30 seconds and is split between still close-up photos of Taco Bell menu items and short, sped-up clips of smiling people eating them. Bludnymph is a singer and a social media star and released "FEAST" in 2021, but it didn't start gaining traction until it appeared in season 1, episode 6 of the Australian Netflix series Heartbreak High in fall 2022.

It's a perfect marriage of song and style.

The Taco Bell spot only spiked popularity for FEAST and bludnymph, who posted an excited reaction video on her YouTube page where she has over 52,000 subscribers. As a social media star, the ad takes on an almost TikTok-like quality with quick cuts, zoom-ins, and a cast of actors who are right in the demographic of people who would listen to bludnymph and be aware of her online presence. It's a perfect marriage of song and style.

Green Day's "Look Ma, No Brains!" Song Was Also In A 2023 Taco Bell Commercial

Green Day Advertised Their 2024 Album Saviors In The Ad

Taco Bell had another commercial in 2023, though this one featured a song from the punk rock band Green Day, "Look Ma, No Brains!" In the commercial, Taco Bell's $5 Crave Boxes are shown being enjoyed by a group of young adults happily eating and laughing with one another. Like in the bludnymph commercial, this ad is a mix of still photographs and rapidly cut clips. If bludnymph is supposed to target Gen Z, then this Taco Bell commercial must be targeting Gen X, who remembers albums like Dookie and Nimrod.

"Look Ma, No Brains!" comes from Green Day's fourteenth studio album, Saviors, released on January 19, 2024. It's an interesting move for a punk band who has a song called "American Idiot" with the opening line, "Don't wanna be an American idiot/Don't want a nation under the new media." However, that was from 2004 and times have changed. It's not so easy for even world-famous bands to exhibit new music. If an ad spot with Taco Bell gets more people to listen to Green Day, then more power to them. As @bankid4lyfe commented on the YouTube ad says,