Vulture asked Daniel Waters if he was a “Taco Bell person,” which I assume means a fan of the Mexican cuisine inspired fast food chain and not an actual human made of Chalupas. The writer affirmed that he does like to “Live Más”:
“I am a Taco Bell person. We have great Mexican food out here in L.A. People are like, ‘Oh, Taco Bell is not real Mexican food.’ I’m going, ‘Yes, we know. Much like ‘Demolition Man,’ it’s its own genre.’ To be quite honest, my original draft was Burger King, and then Burger King scoffed and McDonald’s scoffed. When Taco Bell came around, it was like, ‘Of course! Taco Bell! The greatest thing that’s ever happened to this movie.'”
In the film, Sylvester Stallone’s character is cryogenically frozen in the ’90s and then thawed decades later in order to hunt down a vicious killer (played by Wesley Snipes). When Stallone’s character goes out for dinner with his handler (played by Sandra Bullock), he discovers that all restaurants are now Taco Bell. Fast food? Taco Bell. Fine dining? Taco Bell. Brunch? Taco Bell. The Taco Bell thing works because of the franchise’s place in pop culture. Taco Bell is typically the food of late-night excursions or college students trying to cure their hangovers, whereas McDonald’s and Burger King are more family-focused. Every restaurant being Taco Bell is funny, but every restaurant being McDonald’s would be downright depressing.