Texas Law Hawk Represents
Colorful Texas lawyer stars in mysterious Taco Bell Super Bowl ad
Everyone knows that ads are half the fun of the Super Bowl, and a colorful Fort Worth lawyer will make a mark in one of the season's most intriguing. Bryan Wilson, who calls himself the Texas Law Hawk, stars in an ad campaign by Taco Bell introducing a mysterious new menu item — the identity of which is still a secret.
The ad is one of many being teased ahead of the Super Bowl game, which airs on February 7. Wilson is one of three people who appears in the Taco Bell ads, along with so-called alien expert Giorgio A. Tsoukalos and Houston Rockets player James Harden.
The hype is strong. Taco Bell has issued a press release calling it the "biggest food creation yet," but the words in the release are blacked out, so you can't see what the "it" is. Oh the suspense.
In January, BrandEating theorized that the menu item was a taco with cheese called a quesalupa, which the company has been testing in Ohio.
Taco Bell is encouraging daredevil customers to pre-order it without knowing what it is: The fast-food chain has a website that lets you buy it ($2.99), where it asks, "Trust us? Then pre-order it now sight unseen, and you’ll get to taste it on Saturday, February 6. That’s two days before the rest of the world."
If you pre-order it, you'll get an email on February 6. You can pick up your order at Taco Bell between 2-4 pm. What culinary trailblazer will be first in this derring-do race?
In the ads, Wilson, Harden, and Tsoukalos supposedly don't know what the product will be; they're given green bricks as stand-ins.
"Taco Bell's newest innovation is so top secret, even the people in the commercial don't know what it is," the ad says.
Harden speculates that the bricks will serve as a "green screen" with a product to be superimposed on the ad when it airs. AdWeek calls it "a bit of an irritating approach, especially if it just turns out to be a quesalupa."
AdWeek says that comedy dominates the 2016 crop of ads, such as the one for Bud Light starring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen.
No wallflower, Wilson is known for his amusing ads with stunts such as his ride on a minibike through a fake-glass window to rescue a client. His appearance for Taco Bell does not disappoint.
"Law Hawk thinks it's good!" he says, pretending to take a bite. "Don't know really what it is!"