Old El Paso Campaigns for a New Tradition in France: Fajita Fridays

Eat them like a boss

Move over Taco Tuesdays, there’s a new sheriff in town: Fajita Fridays. 

Old El Paso in France proposed the new tradition to the country’s biggest influencer, Lena Mahfouf, after learning of her avid enthusiasm for its products. 

The collaboration includes a French national TV spot with Mahfouf named the “Head of Friday.” In the creative, she’s a boss lady (mirroring her real-life persona), making sure the fajita party goes smoothly. She strolls fictional Old El Paso offices, its design matching the influencer’s vision of what these parties should be like. 

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TV and social content began rolling out in June. The push gets a post-summer refresh this September. As a part of the push, Mahfouf shared a behind-the-scenes account of her adventures with Old El Paso on TikTok.

Mahfouf developed the concept. Artefact 3000, which produced the creative, discovered her penchant for Old El Paso products through her vlogs. In one, Mahfouf threw down the gauntlet by uttering: “Old El Paso, if you’re looking for a new muse …”

Later, during France’s Fashion Week, the brand appeared with giant tortillas asking Mahfouf to be the new face of Old El Paso.

“The objective was clear: to launch Fajita Fridays in France and make them known to as many people as possible,” says Charles-Antoine De Sousa, Artefact 3000’s creative director, who adds that sales “rose sharply” thanks to the campaign.

De Sousa notes that the initial brief suggested only families would be the main target demographic, but with Mahfouf’s involvement, Old El Paso has reached a much wider audience. The spot is Mahfouf’s first major TV campaign, showing her in a starkly different format. 

The effort marks a new direction for the brand. 

“The aim has always been to launch a creative product, but we never thought we’d go this far,” says De Sousa. “In France, the brand had never communicated with such a quirky campaign tone, but when the opportunity with Lena arose, everyone agreed that we had to produce a campaign as unexpected as this whole story … Long live Fajita Fridays!”