Del Taco’s Masked Swashbuckler Foiled

The swashbuckling masked hero in last year’s Del Taco commercials won’t quite be the same if he makes a return engagement.

The Laguna Hills-based chain, settling a lawsuit by two firms that own exclusive rights to Zorro, said Tuesday that it has agreed to alter its masked “Del Taco” character in any future campaigns. The chain said it has not decided whether to use the character again.

The companies that have rights to Zorro, TriStar Pictures and Zorro Productions Inc., claimed in a federal lawsuit filed last summer that Del Taco Inc.’s fast-food hero too closely resembled their character.

“The main thing in this settlement is that we can continue to use our character with some minor cosmetic changes if we want to go in that direction,” said Tim Hackbardt, Del Taco’s vice president of marketing.

The plaintiffs had sought more than $1 million in damages and profits from Del Taco and the chain’s Los Angeles advertising agency, WongDoody. The suit also demanded that the commercials be immediately pulled.

The TV and radio ads, which spoof old spaghetti westerns, premiered in June and were broadcast until November, the end of their scheduled cycle. Hackbardt said the spots were not pulled because of the litigation.

The chain would not disclose whether the settlement included a financial payment. WongDoody would not comment.

Attorneys for TriStar Pictures could not be reached for comment.

At the time that the lawsuit was filed, Del Taco President Rob Petty insisted that the character was distinct from Zorro and that the company had done its homework to make “sure we weren’t stepping on any toes.”

The campaign was one of the first created for the chain by WongDoody. The agency’s contract with Del Taco ended last month, and the two parties are in discussions about whether to continue their relationship. Del Taco spends about $10 million a year on advertising.

Hackbardt said Del Taco “saw a bump in advertising awareness” based on consumer interviews during the commercial’s run.

The campaign sought to give Del Taco, which has long lived in the shadow of Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp., a familiar icon like McDonald’s Corp.’s Ronald McDonald and Jack from Jack in the Box.

“When you get the right character, they are great because you can ride them for a long time,” Hackbardt said. “But there are certainly ways to do advertising without characters.”

Del Taco has 340 restaurants in 10 states. Sales totaled about $325 million in 1998.