Why National Taco Day will always align with 'Taco Tuesday'
Taco Bell Luxe Cravings Box for Fast food value meals for Trend feature in Food photographed for Food in Washington, DC on August 26, 2024. (Photo by Scott Suchman for The Washington Post via Getty Images; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washi
Calendar alert for all food lovers: National Taco Day has been rescheduled.
National Taco Day was previously observed on Oct. 4, but it will now be celebrated on the first Tuesday in October, Taco Bell and the National Day Calendar announced Tuesday.
This change means that National Taco Day will always be on "Taco Tuesday," according to a news release.
"As the founder of National Day Calendar, I've always been inspired by the grassroots enthusiasm that fuels these special moments," Marlo Anderson of North Dakota told Fox News Digital in an email.
"National Taco Day has traditionally been celebrated on Oct. 4, but for years we've fielded countless comments from fans asking why it wasn't on a Tuesday."
"The desire to align the day with Taco Tuesday has been growing for a long time, so this campaign really started years ago," he said.
Tacos, noted Anderson, "are more than just food – they're a shared cultural experience, and Taco Tuesday has become an integral part of that."
National Taco Day's move to a Tuesday is "bringing the celebration in line with that energy, ensuring taco lovers can celebrate bigger and better every year," Anderson said. "We're thrilled with the success of this campaign and can't wait to see the joy it brings to fans nationwide."
Oct. 4 was labeled National Taco Day in 2009, according to a release from Taco Bell, and "cemented itself on the National Day Calendar" in 2013.
Previous iterations of National Taco Day began in the 1960s, but since 2000, National Taco Day has only been on a Tuesday four times, according to the company.
"Year over year, social conversations continue to rise around the discrepancy," the release said.
However, there was a legal hurdle to overcome. The term "Taco Tuesday" was trademarked, so moving National Taco Day to a Tuesday "would have had potential legal repercussions," Taco Bell said.
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In 2023, Taco Bell "liberated Taco Tuesday" and filed petitions in each state to cancel the trademark of "Taco Tuesday."
The phrase was "officially liberated" in all 50 states on Oct. 24, the company said – just weeks after National Taco Day's celebration.
"Taco Tuesday officially belongs to all who make, sell, eat and celebrate tacos now that the trademark registration has been relinquished in all 50 states," the company said in a statement at the time.
The move to change the date of National Taco Day was a continuation of last year's legal success, the company also said.
"We're thrilled to announce that National Taco Day will now and forever be celebrated on the first Taco Tuesday in October and thank our friends at the National Day Calendar for their full support in this historic move," Taylor Montgomery, Taco Bell's chief marketing officer, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
'Heard from fans for years'
This is not the first time a restaurant has worked to change the date of a "National Day" to one that is more linguistically appropriate for the food item, Anderson told Fox News Digital.
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"While many companies express interest in changing dates for National Days to better align with their marketing efforts, we don't really see it as 'lobbying.' These changes often originate from grassroots suggestions over time," he said.
"For example, the move to shift National French Fry Day to the second Friday in July in 2022 was something we had heard from fans for years — and, eventually, Checkers and Rally's championed that idea, much like Taco Bell has done with National Taco Day," Anderson said.
In that case, National French Fry Day was moved to the "Second Fry-Day" of July, rather than being celebrated on July 13 as it had in the past.
"In both cases, these companies picked up on the enthusiasm already present in the community and helped bring those changes to life," Anderson said.
Read more of this story from FOX News.