History cannot be changed, as it is in the past. However, it can and has been recreated. Many movies are based on historical events, televison shows use historical quotes, even iconic historical photos are some of the most famous pictures that live today. Also, commercials will use historical events for their own propaganda purposes. In the Taco Bell Routine Republic commercial, Taco Bell recreates the Cold War and the divide in Germany. The East Germany communists are portrayed as McDonalds, and the democratic West Germany is meant to be Taco Bell. Taco Bell applies historical references, symbolism, and color in their Routine Republic commercial to make consumers feel that rival McDonalds is evil and out of date, and Taco Bell is for the young and new generation. 

After World War II, the country of Germany was in turmoil. In 1949, the country split into East and West Germany. East Germany was controlled by the communist Soviet Union, and West Germany was controlled by the democratic United States, England, and France. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was also divided between East and West Germany. However, Berlin was in the territory of East Germany. In 1961, East Germany created a wall surrounding East Berlin to stop people from going to West Berlin. Known as the Berlin Wall, this structure had two concrete walls equipped with barbed wire fencing, watchtowers, guards, and the "death strip." This area between the two walls was where hundreds of people attempting to escape were shot and killed. In the Taco Bell Routine Republic commercial, all of these things can be seen within the ad. For example, there were numerous guards protecting the area to make sure that the people got breakfast sandwiches from them. There were also watchtowers that the guards were in, just like in East Germany. Towards the end of the commercial, the Berlin Wall and death strip are also portrayed. The man and woman have to jump between two concrete walls into a ball pit, then climb through a hole to escape from the Routine Republic. The walls in the ad are meant to be the Berlin Wall, and the middle area with the balls represents the death strip inside the Berlin Wall. The idea of communism in East Germany is also present in the commercial. The girl on the intercom talking in the Routine Republic emphasizes that happiness is the same, and that anything different than the norm is bad. Communism is an economic system that relies on equality, where the government owns all property instead of the people. The purpose of communism is to make all citizens the same, with no social classes differentiating people. The commercial girl is clearly alluding to communism in East Germany, stressing everyone stay the same and eat the same breakfast sandwich. These historical references aren't the only thing that Taco Bell use in their ad.

Symbolism is another key part of the Taco Bell Routine Republic commercial. Taco Bell uses numerous symbols in the commercial to show the viewer watching that the city controlling the people is McDonalds, and the city outside the border is Taco Bell. An important symbol shown is that the guards and authorities had their faces painted like a clown. This represents Ronald McDonald, who is the mascot and spokesperson for the company. His face is painted the exact same way as the guards in the commercial. The authorities in the commercial are meant to be like dictators, controlling the people and all that they do. Therefore, Ronald is shown as a dictator also because of him being portrayed as these guards ruling everyone. The breakfast sandwich shown in the commercial is also crucial. It represents the McDonalds McMuffin sandwich. It's small and looks very bland, which Taco Bell does on purpose to make the viewer feel that McDonalds breakfast is gross and out of date. In addition, the yellow slide is another symbol for McDonalds. The guards go down this yellow slide to chase down the man and woman trying to escape. McDonalds is known for having a similar slide in their restaurants at the play area for kids to enjoy. The small food toys in the ad represent the toys from a McDonalds happy meal. Even the ticker at the front window that counts how many people have been served alludes to McDonalds. They have signs in front of their restaurants that say "billions and billions served" and used to have a ticker keeping track of how many customers in total they have helped in the company history. There are plenty of McDonalds trademarks, but there are a couple of Taco Bell symbols also. The hexagon that is "bad" in the commercial represents the Taco Bell AM Crunchwrap sandwich. It looks colorful and filling so that consumers will want to go out and buy it. Lastly, the bell that goes off when the man and woman are running away from the border walls is the exact same sounding bell that Taco Bell uses in their other commercials. With all of these symbols present, it is clear to all viewers watching what restaurants are being referred to in the ad.  

The last key component in the Taco Bell Routine Republic commercial is imagery, specifically color. In the place at the beginning that represents McDonalds, the whole city is gray and dark. There are no bright colors in this city. This is done to portray the location as bleak and desolate, and not a good restaurant to eat breakfast at. However, when the man and woman escape away from the communist country into the place that represents Taco Bell, the colors of the new city are very bright and happy. This shows that this restaurant is very healthy and fun, and you should eat here. Taco Bell knows that colors can heavily influence how people emotionally feel about something, and use this in their commercial to their benefit. 

Together, the Taco Bell Routine Republic ad uses historical references, symbols, and color to get consumers to buy their new breakfast sandwiches. McDonalds has been making breakfast food longer, so many people believe that McDonalds is better at it than Taco Bell. Therefore, Taco Bell attacks them in this commercial to have people see McDonalds is out of date, and Taco Bell is superior than them. I think Taco Bell does a great job in this ad of talking to the consumers, and the people have responded. According to a fiscaltimes.com survey, the populations have decreased eating breakfast at McDonalds, and increased eating breakfast at other fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell. McDonalds is going to have to react quickly, otherwise their breakfast profit is going to continue to drop. This goes to show how powerful advertising can be, and how one commercial can make or break a company altogether.       

