This is not a joke. It’s real, a social media move made by 15 year old swimmer and diver, Ryan Klarner, from Illinois.
Klarner posted this on the Taco Bell Facebook page according to CNBC.
“Where do I go after a long days workout? Taco Bell of course, i eat at Taco Bell at least 5-7 times a week. So, what i am asking is this, is there any way you guys could make me a customized Speedo that says think outside the buns on the back of it?”
The post went live on the Taco Bell Facebook page a week before Christmas with a laundry list of his athletic aquatic achievements.
How did Taco Bell respond?
“What’s your size? And what’s your address?”
Done deal! In the can! Marketing genius…I think? Sure it is. Someone needs to hire this kid, or at the very least he needs to get accepted to the best university with a strong marketing department in a few years.
Kudos to Taco Bell for staying on top of their Facebook fanbase, which is nearly 10,000,000 strong. That’s no easy task.
As for Klarner, he dreamed up the concept a few years back, and finally got the nerve to make the request at the end of last year.
It took Taco Bell two weeks to turn the request around because they had challenges finding a purple swim brief that would work with their design.
SwimSwam can’t endorse Klaner’s eating habits, as he clearly eats a lot of fast food, but at least he’s burning it off.
Congrats Klarner for thinking “outside of the buns” on this one. You get an A+ in marketing.
I think there was an editing mistake. You state: “Done deal! In the can! Marketing genius…I think?” In context, I think you intended to say “Done deal! On the can! Marketing genius . . . I think?”
How long until the NCAA bans him from swimming?
True. Can’t partner with a brand…against NCAA rules.
I thought of this exact same thing. It’s a sad state of affairs when this is our first thought. Let’s all hope that the NCAA’s gross inconsistency in enforcing its regulations provides this kid some respite if/when he tries to swim in college.
If he pays for the cost of the Speedo suit this is no different from buying one in a store and would not be partnering with a brand for consideration. Hopefully this kid’s sense of humor does not walk him into harm, but this is the NCAA we are talking about. Hopefully those dogs are chasing other parked cars as it were.
Hey Smart move by a swimmer. USA Swimming makes so much money off it’s swimmers…let the swimmer besides the very top ones make stuff back. Why not let swimmers have temp tattoos for meet for sponsors? It would get the sport more in line with other sports. Don’t tell me about the purity either. Look at the blocks, the back rounds at the meet, the programs, it’s just the natural flow of things.
I like the idea of temp tattoos….and I’m all for athletes generating dollars to support their careers… USAs has upped support a lot recently, through APA and now the GP series purse, going from 20k to 150k. They’re moving in the right direction, and I think it’ll only go up — especially if it’s well recieved by the swimming-base and media, which it has been so far.