With the Kingdom Hearts series celebrating its 20th anniversary this 2022, Square Enix made sure that big updates and announcements were included in the festivities. The company held an exclusive event and exhibit in Tokyo, which became its channel to share news about the future of the series. During the event, a trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4 was revealed, a new mobile title was announced, and the community got updates on KHUX: Dark Road. Given just how significant 2022 is for the series, it is not unlikely for big brands such as Taco Bell to use the video games as a pop culture reference for marketing and promotion campaigns.
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Twitter user aitaikimochi shared the news on the social media platform about Taco Bell referencing Kingdom Hearts in one of its latest commercials. In the TV spot, Taco Bell announces that its Mexican Pizza is making a comeback to the fast food chain’s menu. If fans listen closely, the rap used in the commercial has a line that says “key to my heart like Sora.” Given that the rap lyric specifically mentions the word “key” together with “heart” and “Sora,” this likely alludes to Sora’s Keyblade-wielding powers of unlocking hearts in the video game series.
The rest of the Taco Bell rap does not mention anything about Kingdom Hearts again, but the game’s fans will likely find this reference quite amusing. Comments on aitaikimochi’s Twitter thread are even imagining that Kingdom Hearts may be noticed by other big food chain brands such as Starbucks or McDonald’s. On Taco Bell’s official Facebook post, however, only a handful of fans noticed the mention of Sora in the commercial. Most of the Facebook page’s followers seem more focused on the brand’s Mexican Pizza instead.
Nevertheless, video game references in mainstream media is likely always an enjoyable experience for the community. With no news about the release date of Kingdom Hearts 4 yet, this may be one of the few related Kingdom Hearts news that the fanbase will get for a while.
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