Taco Bell Puts Its Advertising Up for Review : Restaurants: O.C.-based chain cites ‘more complex’ business. Competing agencies include present account holder.

Taco Bell Corp. has put its $150-million-a-year advertising account up for review and expects to make a final decision on hiring an agency by Labor Day, the company said Wednesday.

Taco Bell opened the account to competing bids for the first time in about six years because “our business is much more complex today,” Taco Bell President Kenneth T. Stevens said Wednesday in a prepared statement. “It’s time to change the rules again and keep our competitors following our lead.”

Foote, Cone & Belding, the San Francisco-based agency that now holds the Taco Bell account, is among four agencies invited to compete, Stevens said.

Taco Bell shook up the fast-food industry with its pioneering value menu in 1990. Its revolutionary bill of fare emphasized items that cost less than a dollar, prompting most competitors, including Anaheim-based Carl’s Jr., to jump on the value bandwagon.

But there are indications that Taco Bell’s value menu is beginning to show its age. Executives at PepsiCo Inc., Taco Bell’s parent company, said last month that the restaurant chain’s sales increase has “moderated.”

“While we’ve seen tremendous growth in our business in the last several years, we believe it’s time to take a fresh approach with our advertising to maintain our competitive leadership profile,” Stevens said.

Besides Foote, Cone & Belding, agencies vying for the account are Dallas-based The Richards Group, Seattle-based Cole & Webber, and Bozell Jacobs Kenyon and Eckard, which has offices in Orange County and New York.

Taco Bell recently awarded Bozell a much smaller contract to handle advertising for its Hot ‘n Now hamburger chain subsidiary. The value of that contract was estimated at $3 million to $5 million annually.

“We short-listed these agencies based on their highly creative track record and retailing capability,” Stevens said in the statement. “We’re looking for business-driving, motivating advertising which is consistent with our brand personality.”

Taco Bell has 4,500 conventional fast-food restaurants and more than 15,000 other locations, including kiosks, carts and school lunch programs.