It was the year 1998 whenAlgida launched Winner Taco, an ice cream-sandwich, on the market. Its success was general, however after a few years … tracking it down became impossible.
What will have happened? It is not known. Algida simply let it be known that it was no longer among its proposals.
From that moment a “virtual hell” began to break loose, with a peak in 2011 when the page Give us back the Winner Taco was created, run by the most nostalgic users. The people of the web began to join the “revolt” and post ironic photos – and complaints – to urge Algida to reintroduce it; without ever receiving a response.
Thus began an increasingly persistent virtual battle between users and the multinational Algida, welcoming about 9 thousand fans on social pages and earning the company about 5 million followers. The duel was the backdrop for cute cartoons/photos that traced the idea “Without Taco is no more life,” “photoshopping” it in unthinkable places. But it was not a lost duel; probably some hearts in high places grew tender as they watched how passionately and frequently users mentioned the controversial ice cream. After years of jokes, ironic images and requests for “help,” the answer came with a positive and sometimes ambiguous verdict: the return of the Winner Taco. The wait is over. The people of the net have won!
Winner Taco Algida: the victory of social
On the official page of the Roman company, Algida, threatening and nostalgic messages have been posted for years now by users, in the face of which the company has had to surrender. The return is getting closer and closer, and some official messages posted these days on social media make us understand this, leaving little room for imagination. Notably, the hearts of Taco lovers started beating fast at the sight of two Facebook posts, generating“Winner Taco hysteria” on social:
- A polar bear’s footprint in the snow;
- The night silhouette of the bear.
That’s not all. These days the official profile @TheWinnerTaco appeared on Twitter ready to bombard with tweets/indications before the official news.
As icing on the cake, a giant Winner Taco installation appeared on January 15 in one of Rome’s busiest squares, Ponte Milvio, making nostalgic people squint and passersby jerk.
Between yesterday and today, millions of posts and shares were made on Twitter and Facebook, spreading the happy news all over Italy, especially in Rome, so much so that it entered the list of Topic Trands in a very few hours.
It is really strange to believe that for once the “prosumers” managed to make their voices heard. Surely, all this hype will only benefit the company as well, which will soon face an unprecedented sales boom. A web marketing strategy excellent, theirs, imprinted precisely on consumers and taking advantage of the media “stalking” of recent years.
But Taco lovers don’t care what’s underneath, the thing that matters is being able to move a food giant of similar magnitude, through the simple, if compulsive, use of the Social Networks. This shows us the influence such a medium can have, if used judiciously and ironically.
All of us rejoiced at the still “veiled” news of the return of the most beloved ice cream, but more importantly, we witnessed great guerrilla marketing for the first time, thanks to us. So while we wait, let us join the thanks of the Captains, administrators of the page-protest, “Thank you for fighting with us. We won.” Thank you Algida.
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The silence has been broken. The Winner Taco will return … to everyone’s delight. Even Algida’s.
