Del Taco, Ad Agency Split Over ‘Creative Differences’

Del Taco Inc. and its advertising agency parted company Thursday, just months after the Mexican-style restaurant chain initiated a new television advertising campaign.

The split with Los Angeles-based Saatchi & Saatchi Pacific was driven by what Del Taco Vice President Lou Franson described as “the classic case of creative differences so common in this business.” The first part of the new campaign aired just over a month ago.

While Saatchi wanted to focus the new advertising campaign on developing Del Taco’s brand awareness among consumers, Franson said, the chain wanted to focus on “the retail side, the fact that we have 39-cent tacos for sale.”

Del Taco intends to resume television advertising, Franson said, adding that the split was “a question of ‘why beat each other up if we have an honest disagreement.’ ”