Taco Bell Chihuahua

The “Taco Bell Chihuahua”, was an advertising figure and mascot for the Taco Bell restaurant chain from September, 1997 to July, 2000, voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, and developed by the TBWA ad agency.

The figure grew so popular that this toy figure of the dog was produced, associated with the “Viva Gorditas!” campaign, which features the dog dressed in a Che Guevara style beret. It was this specific appropriation of the Argentine revolutionary that was viewed as an offensive stereotype and Mario G. Obledo, a civil rights leader, called for a boycott of Taco Bell if the company did not end the ad campaign, which they did in July 2000.