Tacos x Los Times is a brand activation concept which re-imagines The Los Angeles Times as a relevant and tasteful contributor to the contemporary cultural scene of the city. This taco & newspaper truck drives to various street fairs, events, and cultural occurrences throughout the city. Customers can purchase fresh tacos (the unofficial mascot food of the city) as a source of nourishment and a way to generate interest in the truck, but also as a nod to the paper’s Food section. The quality of the tacos is a de facto statement of exactly how well The Times knows and represents the city. Truck features witticisms on the front and back panels for other motorists’ enjoyment when in transit — the back panel reads “You are behind The Times” and the front, in reverse (so drivers could read it in their rear-view mirrors) reads “You are ahead of The Times.”

Opportunity exists to create a sub-brand within the existing Los Angeles Times identity for a project titled “Los Times” which specifically celebrates the Angelino Latino culture, identity and presence within city both historically and in on-going, contemporary sense. Campaign lines would be simple phrases in Spanglish — colloquial Spanish that uses English words peppered throughout, a common style of speech for native Angelinos of Latino origin — campaign lines would include “Los Times,” “Yo Soy Los Times” & “Esos Eran Los Times,” translating to “The Times,” “I am The Times,” & “Those were The Times.”

Supposing that the internal company culture of the newspaper would come to reflect this new energy of informed cultural relevance, the brand & sub-brands could effectively become hugely popular, regain their readership, inspire the Angelino community at large to become more informed and involved in matters related to news, politics, and art, and to establish the value of the brand identities as assets for merchandise, new products, as well as methods by which to leverage partnerships and collaborations with other major organizations and significant brands within the city like Born x Raised, The Marathon, Braindead and The Dodgers, among others.

// Fall 2022 // Term 01