Fast-food retailer Taco Bell is hoping to shepherd in traffic to its new flagship location in Las Vegas with a social media campaign that will result in a wedding.

Taco Bell will be holding a wedding live streamed on Facebook for a winning couple at its first-ever flagship location, as it attempts to build a lifestyle brand out of a fast-food joint. A contest throughout social media will see Taco Bell fans sharing their love stories and how the retailer fits into their relationship, culminating with a vote on the winning entry.

“I love that we are taking Taco Bell all the way to wedding bells,” said Marisa Thalberg, chief marketing officer at Taco Bell Corp. “From sauce packet proposals to couples catering their wedding parties and afterparties with Taco Bell, we have known for years that some of our most creative fans have been incorporating Taco Bell into this momentous occasion.”

Unconventional weddings
Couples who are interested in being the first married at a Taco Bell location are getting the chance to see their wish granted. Taco Bell’s Love and Tacos contest will result in the winning couple receiving a unique wedding at the retailer’s new flagship store on the Vegas strip.

Participants can upload a photo that represents their relationship and Taco Bell fits into their love story, or a 30-second video explaining. Users must include the hashtag #LoveandTacosContest on Instagram or Twitter.

After March 1 users will be able to vote on their favorite entry to be entered as a finalist. A panel of judges will then pick the grand prizewinner out of the finalists.

The Love and Taco winner will be announced on March 16. Fans who voted for the winning entry will also be given a chance to attend, with one of the voters selected to win the trip at random.

Taco Bell will bore all of the planning duties for the couple. The wedding will include catered dinner featuring Taco Bell fare, branded wedding attire such as t-shirts, garter and bowtie, Taco Bell champagne flutes, professional photography and videography.

The winners will receive airfare for six to Vegas, a room at Planet Hollywood, two tickets for High Roller Ferris Wheel at LINQ, a cabana by the pool at Planet Hollywood, VIP table for six at Dray’s Nightclub and Entry for two and $100 credit at Qua Bathsand Spa.

Love and Tacos will be the beginning of the venue’s wedding career. The flagship store will offer a wedding package starting this summer; after the contest winner’s nuptials break it in.

Taco Bell’s wedding ceremonies will include a first meal, officiant and full ceremony for $600.

The contest is hoping to drive store traffic to Taco Bell’s new flagship store that opened in November 2016. The flagship and campaign are supporting Taco Bell’s mission to become a lifestyle brand based off of its cult following.

Digital and frenzied fandom has given brands such as Taco Bell, who have not had the ability to create full lifestyle brands such as this in a past, a platform to do so.

Taco Bell initiatives
Similarly, thanks to a mobile sweepstakes held in partnership with Sony, Taco Bell customers who purchase a Big Box meal recently became eligible to win a PlayStation virtual reality headset by texting in a code found on the packaging.

To celebrate the sweepstakes, Taco Bell and Sony opened a pop-up shop on Greene Street in Manhattan, where customers can enjoy free tacos and test out a PlayStation VR headset. The promotion will last from Sept. 15 to Oct. 19 (see more).

To jump on chatbot-enabled mcommerce ramping up, Taco Bell tested a new Slack interface, called TacoBot that enabled users to order food directly within the messaging platform.

TacoBot leverages artificial intelligence so that users can place an order using natural language. The news follows closely on the heels of Sephora’s launch of a chatbot on Kik and KLM’s Facebook Messenger integration (see more).

“Now, through our new flagship restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip, couples can come right in and order a wedding off of our menu,” Ms. Thalberg said. “In a town known for pulling out all of the stops, we think this will be the most craveable matrimonial experience to ever hit Vegas.”