Taco Bell’s Super Bowl ad included glimpses of LeBron James and Doja Cat, but the fast-food chain made everyday people the focal point. The spot featured nearly 400 real customers’ photos taken from special drive-thru cameras as part of a campaign designed to drive rewards program sign-ups.

Those shots were shown as an overlapping collage of photos, showing baby announcements, engagements, graduation celebrations—and a lot of people eating their orders. “Behold, a bunch of randos, not famous people,” the voiceover says before the spot cuts to James and Doja Cat asking why they can’t be in the ad.

The ad, from agency Biite and directed by Dave Meyers, aired in the third quarter of tonight’s game. 

Customers featured in the commercial were chosen out of the 3,000 fans who went through drive-thrus in Los Angeles, Houston, Middleburg Heights, Ohio; Cookeville, Tennessee; and Wauchula, Florida.

Fans included a Cleveland-based couple announcing their baby in the drive-thru cameras, a couple getting Taco Bell on their anniversary, a couple celebrating buying a home and a guy who poured two Baja Blasts over his head.

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To be considered for a spot in the ad, customers had to sign up for Taco Bell Rewards, open the app, log in and proceed through the drive-thru. At the end of the drive-thru, those who wanted to participate could stop and scan a QR code to initiate a photo countdown, which took six photos of both the driver and passenger sides of the car. The photos were emailed to customers, who could opt in to have them considered for the commercial.

Of course, giving everyday people a chance to appear in Super Bowl ads is nothing new. Last year, Coors Light used CGI to put 100 virtual fan passengers aboard its “Chill Train” for its Super Bowl ad. 

Driving pre-Super Bowl sign-ups 

Taco Bell is not the only brand using Super Bowl-related marketing to push sign-ups for its rewards program. Shopping rewards app Fetch planned a live $1.2 million giveaway during the game for those who have downloaded its app. 

Carl’s Jr.’s cast TikToker Alix Earle in a regional Super Bowl ad to promote a free “hangover burger,” available to the chain’s rewards members the day after the Big Game. Starbucks is running an ad right after the game encouraging viewers to sign up for rewards to get a free small coffee on Monday.

James and Doja Cat helped tease Taco Bell’s spot, with Doja Cat photobombing drive-thru customers. Doja Cat was in Taco Bell’s last Big Game ad in 2022, and James starred in Taco Bell’s campaign to “liberate” the phrase “Taco Tuesday” in 2023. He makes reference to Taco Tuesday in this year’s ad.

Taco Bell’s U.S. same-store sales grew 5% in the fourth quarter.