Canada, ‘take Justin Bieber back’ to get Taco Bell breakfast, exec quips

In a rare display of corporate candidness, Taco Bell President Brian Niccol joked that for Canada to get the chain’s new breakfast menu, it will have to “take Justin Bieber back.”

Niccol and the Irvine-based fast-food chain are promoting Taco Bell’s new breakfast menu, which rolled out nationally Thursday, and part of the marketing effort included an “Ask Me Anything” thread on Reddit where the company executive took questions.

One Reddit user asked why the U.S.’ neighbor to the north isn’t part of the breakfast menu rollout: “Only to America? When is this coming to Canada?” the person asked.

Niccol kept the answer short and simple: “When you take Justin Bieber back.”

Ouch.

The fun didn’t stop there though because some of the replies were even funnier than Niccol’s tongue-in-cheek response:

“OH ... I’m used to a different kind of Taco bell burn,” one person wrote. Another complimented Niccol’s answer for its honesty: “Wow, wittier than I expected based on the corporate tone of the rest of this AMA. I actually choked on my coffee a bit.”

Bieber, the Canadian-born pop singer, has courted controversy in recent months in the U.S. He was arrested in Miami for allegedly driving under the influence in a rented sports car. He’s also under investigation in the vandalizing of a neighbor’s home in Calabasas.

He’s also the subject of a deportation petition, though it’s unclear anything will result from it.

Turning back to the Reddit thread, Niccol also took other questions from inquiring users including this gem:

“How much have your sales increased in Colorado since the legalization of marijuana?”

Niccol:”420% (But seriously what is 4/20?).”

The Taco Bell executive was also asked what “dream food” should be added to the menu (“Cerveza,” or beer, he said) that spawned fantasies of turning the chain’s restaurants into bars. The rest of the questions and answers included complimenting service at one Taco Bell location and requests to bring back discontinued menu items.