El Pollo Loco Commercial: Where There's Smoke and No Giant Fire

By Keith Plocek Fri., Jun. 24 2011 at 7:35 AM

Keith Plocek

"Don't smile," a guy in a straw hat barks through a megaphone. "You're not supposed to be having fun."

Mr. Straw Hat is directing 16 people decked out in orange and red El Pollo Loco shirts. A diverse group, they're tugging on a rope connected to a 25-foot bow drill. Their putative goal is to break the record for world's largest hand-made fire.

World's largest fire? If you're thinking that'd be a great way to promote El Pollo Loco's flame-grilled chicken, 1) you're right and 2) wow, you're pretty much the perfect El Pollo Loco customer.

We are indeed on a commercial set, complete with makeup, craft services and maybe a half-dozen video cameras. We came expecting a giant fire in the middle of a parking lot on Sunset Boulevard on a Thursday afternoon, but watching a commercial get made is interesting too. Not exactly "giant fire in the middle of the freaking parking lot!" interesting, but let's keep moving.

Extras stand behind the rope-tuggers, pointing and yelling, "Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!" Some of them are El Pollo Loco employees who didn't make the cut. They check their cell phones between shots, gearing up for the next round of excitement.

Is that giant stick going to catch fire or what?

After breaking to realign the cameras, we're ready for the big finale. Thirty-one tuggers in orange and red shirts line up on opposite sides of the giant stick. The rope is actually wrapped around the wood this time, so it's going to spin. Fake firemen watch over the scene.

"Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!"

The stick starts wobbling like crazy. The crane isn't doing a very good job keeping it steady. No smoke. No fire.

"Cut!"

What happens next breaks our heart. A guy comes out with what looks like a brick of charcoal. He places it in a hole under the giant stick. They're faking the smoke. We've stood out in the sun for over two hours and they're faking the smoke?

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had the break-in at the Watergate Hotel. Rachel Carson had Silent Spring. It was the My Lai massacre for Seymour Hersh. We guess that leaves us with the El Pollo Loco fake smoke scandal.

Watch for the commercial, but don't believe everything you see.

Tags:

Commercial, El Pollo Loco, Fire, Keith Plocek, World Record

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Derekavg

On 06/17/11, at El Pollo Loco Imperial Hwy (Fullerton) branch store, we requested “A whole chicken plus eight tortillas (order Number: 0356)” for only $10 and two sides; but was sold one 10-pieces chicken mixed with a total bill of $26.19. After I told the cashier several times what I wanted, he did not charge it the correct way, and then asked his supervisor to come over. His supervisor started speaking Spanish to him, which is very rude! Then when I complained to the supervisor, she only took off $1.00 and I was outraged. This order took about ten minutes to order, and about the same time to explain what I want only! I was so frustrated and just decided to take my order and go home.The bottom line is that I was ripped off and WHY is your supervisor speaking Spanish to the other employees?! This is not acceptable at all!How can we communicate on a simple order if the cashier/supervisor is speaking another language I don’t understand and I had to spend double the amount of money I needed to pay? In addition, after I got home the chicken was DRY and the wings were burnt. The next day I called to report this case and up to today have never received any response.We discarded most of the chicken and I made a promise never to go back to that branch store again. Honestly, I have wasted my time and money going to that El Pollo Loco store. Please ask your manager at that location to think about the customers by taking their orders correctly also please make sure the chicken is not overcooked, dry or burnt! Furthermore, train your cashiers to take the order in a timely manner and communicate in English when dealing with your customers.

Julie

Keith,

Thank you for visiting our event. Yesterday’s advertising campaign shoot was an event planned to honor our commitment to grilling, use of fresh ingredients, and camaraderie of our most exceptional employees from El Pollo Loco’s 400 restaurants. We thought it would be a fun twist to also set out to break the world record for the largest hand-made fire with our 25-foot bow drill. We knew we couldn’t guarantee success, but we sure had fun trying!

Julie WeeksEl Pollo Loco, Inc.

kevin

Ms. Weeks,

Publicity stunts should go by the wayside until the problem of dry El Pollo Loco chicken is addressed. The essential juiciness that is lacking can surely be recognized by most reasonable Weekly readers.

For the readers' information: Ms. Weeks used to be paid to tell lies for the Ralphs Grocery Company. I can't tell if her career is on the way up or going in the wrong direction.

"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket." ~ George Orwell