Taco Bell may be selling a lot of kids meals to adults over the next few weeks. It has nothing to do with craving their choice of a taco or cheese roll-up, cinnamon crisps and a drink. Participating restaurants are putting special five-card packs of Panini Hoops basketball cards in each $2.99 bag.
The promotion has flown a bit under the radar but here it is in a nutshell:
- 150 cards in the set, numbered on the back
- Cards are updated for players who changed teams just prior to the season
- Some photos are different than the regular Hoops cards
- Major stars including LeBron James are in the set
- Does not appear the packs carry any special inserts
With the rounded corners, the cards feel a bit like playing cards but they are indeed standard basketball cards. There is no Taco Bell logo but the restaurant is mentioned in the tiny disclaimer print on the back of the cards.
At five cards per pack and 150 cards in the set, you’ll need to buy at least 30 kids meals—and that’s if distribution is perfect (it won’t be). It would seem as if a smaller set would have made more sense, but the parameters of these promotional deals are created for a variety of reasons.
Taco Bell isn’t a complete stranger to basketball cards. In the early 90s, in fact, they were the lead sponsor for a few promotional strips featuring Hoops cards of the Lakers and Mavericks.
