James Marsden has channeled Matthew McConaughey’s character from Interstellar in a humorous Taco Bell ad posing as a legitimate movie trailer. The faux trailer plays like a sci-fi thriller, but is actually a tongue-in-cheek ad to promote the return of Taco Bell’s Nacho Fries.
While “Hollywood” may not be the first word that comes to mind when referring to Taco Bell, the fast food chain is no stranger to Hollywood-level marketing to promote new menu options. In fact, when Taco Bell officially introduced Nacho Fries in 2018 - following a trial run a year prior - they released a trailer for a fake movie called Web of Fries starring Josh Duhamel. The trailer plays like a traditional political thriller with Duhamel’s character fighting for his life as he attempts to uncover the reason Taco Bell doesn’t serve fries. Now, in response to temporarily discontinuing Nacho Fries, Taco Bell has released yet another faux trailer - this time featuring Marsden in a space adventure titled Retrieval, which is clearly inspired by films like Interstellar and Armageddon.
In the trailer, Marsden plays a character named Dr. Danny Conrad who is requested by the US government to help investigate the sudden disappearance of Nacho Fries. With the world in panic, Dr. Conrad comes to the conclusion that the fries may be lost in another space-time continuum, which ultimately propels him into a mission through time and space. Naturally, the characters sprinkle in descriptions about Nacho Fries to remind audiences that this isn’t actually a real trailer. Check out the ad below:
The use of fake, yet convincing movie ads has become something of a trend over the past couple of years. For a while, an ad promoting tourism in Australia had some viewers convinced that it was a legitimate sequel to Crocodile Dundee. The ad starred Chris Hemsworth, Danny McBride, Margot Robbie, Hugh Jackman, and Russell Crowe, among several other Australian actors, and it premiered during Super Bowl LII in 2018.
As for the Taco Bell ad, while fans of the fast food chain may be excited to broaden their french fry palette, the one disappointing takeaway is that the film isn’t actually being released. Marsden has proven his balance of action and comedy in TV shows and movies like Westworld and Enchanted, respectively, so balancing the genres would no doubt be a treat for fans - assuming the french fries, for the sake of realism, were substituted with something a bit less edible.
More: The Best Sci-Fi Movies Of The Last Ten Years
Source: Taco Bell
