Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal Promotions

## Description

The Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal promotions were a pair of promotions run by Taco Bell in the summer and fall of the year 2000. The first promotion was meant to advertise season one of the Digimon anime, while the second promotion was designed to hype up the release of "Digimon: The Movie", which premiered on October 6th of that year.

While specifics are unconfirmed, it is speculated that the two promotions might have actually been one big long promotion that had two different "phases" to it. "Phase one" ran in the summer and featured the metal cards, plastic Digivice cases, and Digi-Battle Card Game promo cards in Kid's Meals that the Digimon Taco Bell promotion is most known and remembered for. "Phase two" ran in the fall and featured collectable packs of animation cels from "Digimon: The Movie" in Kid's Meals.

The original "phase one" promotion ran July 13, 2000 through September 9, 2000, and the second "phase two" promotion ran late September (or possibly even October) 2000 through November 15th, 2000. Both promotions toys were subject to availability, and held the disclaimer "Or while supplies last".

## "Phase One" - Metal Cards, Digivice cases, and Digi-Battle Card Game Promo Cards

"Phase one" of the Digimon Taco Bell promotion began on July 13, 2000 and included an impressive number of collectable pieces. There were 48 metal cards, 16 different plastic Digivices, 12 exclusive promotional Digi-Battle Card Game cards, and 4 tip cards for the card game to collect in Kid's Meals. Each toy came packaged in a plastic bag and included one Digivice case, three metal cards (housed inside the Digivice case), an exclusive Digi-Battle card game promo card, and an advertisement for the Digi-Battle card game. The toys came free with the purchase of a kid's meal, or were available to buy individually for $0.99 each at participating Taco Bell locations. "Phase one" ended on September 9, 2000.

## Metal Cards

The embossed metal cards featured all eight Digidestined/Chosen Children from season one of "Digimon" and their partner Digimon in all of their forms (for the time) from in-training up. There were also 6 villain cards to collect. The cards included:

* Tai, Koromon, Agumon, Greymon, Metalgreymon, Wargreymon
* Matt, Tsunomon, Gabumon, Garurumon, Weregarurumon, Metalgarurumon
* TK, Tokomon, Patamon, Angemon, Magnaangemon
* Kari, Nyaromon, Salamon, Gatomon, Angewomon
* Sora, Yokomon, Biyomon, Birdramon, Garudamon
* Mimi, Tanemon, Palmon, Togemon, Lillymon
* Joe, Bukamon, Gomamon, Ikkakumon, Zudomon
* Izzy, Motimon, Tentomon, Kabuterimon, Megakabuterimon
* Villains: Myotismon, Devimon, Piedmon, Machinedramon, Metalseadramon,Puppetmon

Each card featured unique colors, styles, and boarders around the center image to denote which cards went together as a "set". The metal cards were packaged together in a group of three at a time and were wrapped in a soft white tissue paper to protect them from getting scratched or scuffed in transit as they rubbed together. The cards packaged together were each part of a different set or Digivolution line, which encouraged collectors to buy more meals to complete their sets.

Cards had an image of a character on the front and center of each card with their name up top and their attributes listed on a second line below their name. For the Digimon, these attribute were the level of the Digimon: In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, or Mega. In the case of the children, the second line just repeated their names. The bottom of the front of each card had the Digimon logo in a metallic sheen.

The backs of the cards included facts about the characters on the front of the card. Facts about the Digidestined include their name, a short bio, their crest, and info about the Digimon partner. Facts about the Digimon go a bit more in-depth and include information about their level, group, type, size, technique, second technique, and special ability.

While most metal cards simply had a front and back, there were two special cards that had a pop-up feature. These two cards were Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon. Their cards had a tab on the bottom that could be opened up, which made art of each character pop up out of their cards.

## Digivice cases

The metal cards were housed in one of 16 different colored Digivice-shaped cases. Each case was modeled after the D-2 Digivice as seen in season one of "Digimon", and came in a variety of solid colors. These colors included:

* Red
* Orange
* Yellow-Orange
* Yellow
* Lime Green
* Light green
* Green
* Dark Green
* Green-Blue
* Light Blue
* Blue
* Dark Blue
* Lavender
* Purple
* Pink
* Magenta

Some of these colors are very hard to tell apart from each other, which can make collecting a bit confusing.

The Digivice cases opened at both ends and were made up of three pieces: a top, middle, and bottom. The cases were cleverly designed to be taken apart, have their middle parts snapped together, and stacked on each other to create a larger, deeper case for cards to be stored in as kids collected more and more.

## Digi-Battle Card Game Exclusive Promo Cards

There were 16 different Digi-Battle Card Game promo cards included in the Taco Bell Kid's Meals.. Each toy came with one promo card. There were 12 Digimon cards to collect, and 4 tip cards, which included hints and strategies for the Digi-Battle card game.

The Digimon promo cards featured various Digimon in actiony or battling poses, and included:

Tb-01: GotsumonTb-02: KunemonTb-03: PalmonTb-04: KuwagamonTb-05: CentarumonTb-06: DevimonTb-07: SkullMeramonTb-08: AndromonTb-09: OkuwamonTb-10: SaberleomonTb-11: BoltmonTb-12: WargreymonAll four tip cards (front)All four tip cards (back)

## "Phase one" Bags

The "phase one" Digimon Kid's Meal bags were made of paper and contained checklists of the metal cards on the front and the back of the bags. Also included on the bags were puzzles, whose answers could be found on the bottom of each bags in the answer keys.

The front of a "phase one" Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal bag, featuring a checklist of the metal cards included in the promotion.The front of a "phase one" Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal bag, featuring a checklist of the metal cards included in the promotion.The front of a "phase one" Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal bag, featuring a checklist of the metal cards included in the promotion.The back of a "phase one" Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal bag, featuring a checklist of the metal cards included in the promotion.The back of a "phase one" Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal bag, featuring a checklist of the metal cards included in the promotion.The answer key on the bottom of a "phase one" Digimon Taco Bell Kid's Meal bag.

## Promotional Material

While not much has currently been found regarding wider advertising of the Digimon tie-in (such as commercial spots or printed media in magazines), there are a few photos of an in-store standee that sat on the countertop of Taco Bell restaurants to promote the toys. The standee's measurements were: 17" tall, ~18" across, and 8" front-to-back, and it featured Tai and Agumon on either side with large cards of Togemon, Greymon, and Matt behind them.

The front of a "phase one" Digimon Kid's Meal promo countertop standee, featuring Tai, Agumon, and three cards: Togemon, Greymon, and Matt.Close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending).Close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending and a tear that has been taped over).Close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending and dust).Close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending and dust).Close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending and a missing piece).Agumon, seperated from the standee to shoe some damage on one of his arms (slight bending)Close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending and a missing piece).Close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending).Overhead close up of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending).The back of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending).The bottom of the countertop standee, showing damage (slight bending and a tear that has been taped over).

## "Phase Two" - Collector Cels, Display standees, and Coloring Books

"Phase two" of Taco Bell's Digimon Kid's Meal promotion began somewhere around late September or the beginning of October of the year 2000. The exact start date is not currently known. A decent amount of mystery surrounds this part of the promotion, as it doesn't seem to be as widely remembered, appreciated, or documented as "phase one". Phase two shifted from promoting season one of the Digimon anime to advertising the release of "Digimon: The Movie", which came out on October 6, 2000.

Phase two toys consisted of "Collector Cel" packs that contained 3 of 48 animation cel cards per pack. Each card held a different still-frame image from "Digimon: The Movie" and was translucent like a film strip. The card packs also came with a paper standee decorated with characters from season two of the Digimon anime. Each standee could hold three cards each and had the ability to be stacked and/or connected with other standees to make them longer.

The third part of "phase two" is a coloring and activity book (with crayons included), which currently has almost no information about it available online outside of a single image. At the moment, it is not known what this book contained, how large it was, or under what circumstances it was given out. It is assumed that it was potentially a toy that was available as a part of the same promotion (as it says "Digimon: The Movie" on it), but that fact is unconfirmed.

"Phase two" ended on November 15th, 2000.

An example of a pack of Collector Cel cards from "phase two" of the Digimon Kid's Meal promotion. Pictured is a pack wrapper, a card display standee, and three cards.A "Digimon: The Movie" coloring and activity book that was given out by Taco Bell assumedly as a part of "phase two" of the Digimon Kid's Meal promotion. Not much is known about this book, and thus far this is the only image that has been found of it.

## Collector Cels

The collector cels (also potentially referred to as "animation cels") came packaged in a purple metallic pack in Kid's Meals. Each pack contained 3 random cards, and in total there were 48 different collector cel cards to collect. The cards had still frames from "Digimon: The Movie" and were translucent, which allowed light to shine through them like a film reel. The center images were framed by a variety of different colorful boarders ranging from Digivices and sunbursts to crests and computer-shaped graphics. Some cards had similar boarders to each other. The "Digimon: The Movie" logo appeared somewhere on every card somewhere on a corner. The position of the logo changed from card to card.

## Display Standees

Display standees came folded to fit into the collector cel packs. There were multiple different standees to collect, and each featured different characters from the second season of the Digimon anime. The standees had slots that could hold three collector cels each, and they could be either be stacked vertically or connected horizontally to create a larger display.

An collector cel holder featuring 02 Sora, Joe, and various other Digimon. Each stand can hold and display up to three cels.Close up of Motimon and Ikkakumon on a collector cel standee.Close up of 02 Sora, Bukamon, Birdramon, and 02 Joe on a collector cel standee.Close up of Birdramon, 02 Joe, and Megakabuterimon on a collector cel standee.Close up of Hawkmon and Palmon on a collector cel standee.A collector cel standee folded.The back of an collector cel holder. The back of the standee has instructions on how to insert the cel cards, as well as tips on how to stack and connect multiple displays.Close up on the back of a collector cel holder, showing the copyright information.

## "Phase Two" Bags

The "phase two" Digimon Kid's Meal bags were made of paper and had images of the season two Digidestined printed on the front of the bags and games and activities on the back. Also included on the bags were puzzles, whose answers could be found on the bottom of each bags in the answer keys.

The front of a bag from Taco Bell's "second phase" Digimon Kid's Meal promotion from the year 2000, during which they promoted "Digimon: The Movie". This particular bag has pen markings on it where a child filled out the puzzles printed on the bag.The back of a bag from Taco Bell's "second phase" Digimon Kid's Meal promotion from the year 2000, during which they promoted "Digimon: The Movie". This particular bag has pen markings where a child filled out the puzzles printed on it.The bottom of a bag from Taco Bell's "second phase" Digimon Kid's Meal promotion from the year 2000, during which they promoted "Digimon: The Movie". This section shows the answers to the puzzles printed on the rest of the bag. This particular bag has pen markings on it where a child filled out said puzzles.

## Bootlegs

No known bootlegs of the metal cards, Digivice cases, or animation cels exist. However, it is possible that the promotional Digi-Battle cards may have been bootlegged, even though no fakes have yet been discovered officially. Be cautious when buying cards secondhand and make sure that you shop through a trusted and reliable source.

## Fun Facts and Trivia

* At the time of these promotions, Kip Knight was the Chief Marketing Officer of Taco Bell Corp, and Elie Dekel, was the President of Saban Consumer Products.
* According to Digi-Battle.com, Boltmon's card (TB-11) has a bit of an oddity. It states that his second Digivolution requirement is for a DNA Digivolution, but it doesn't have the (DNA) keyword before it.

## Sources

1. "Yo Quiero Taco Bell and Digimon" - QSR Magazine
2. "Taco Bell Digimon Promotion - Anime News Network
3. "Opening 20 Year Old Digimon Cards | Rare Taco Bell Promos" - Youtube video by Basee Digimon
4. Countertop Standee listing on Ebay (now backed up on Worthpoint)

1. ↑ https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/yo-quiero-taco-bell-and-digimon