Taco Bell thought they had figured out the perfect marketing stunt.
But the basketball superstar had other plans.
And three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić crushed Taco Bell with two words after they begged him to do this one thing.
Taco Bell Resurrects Viral Marketing Disaster With $4.99 Price Tag
The Quesarito is back at Taco Bell, and executives couldn't resist turning their comeback into a public relations spectacle.
Starting December 18, the cult favorite returned to menus nationwide with a $4.99 price tag — more than double what it cost when it first launched in 2014 at $1.99.¹
Taco Bell discontinued the item in 2023 after years of fan petitions and social media campaigns demanding its return.
"We heard our fans loud and clear," Chief Marketing Officer Luis Restrepo said in a statement. "Their passion turned the Quesarito into a Taco Bell legend."²
But the fast-food chain saw an opportunity to milk one of the most awkward moments in NBA draft history for maximum publicity.
The Quesarito's return brings with it the infamous 2014 moment when Denver Nuggets selected Nikola Jokić with the 41st pick — right as ESPN cut to a Taco Bell commercial promoting the very same menu item.
Jokić's draft announcement got buried under a cheesy burrito advertisement, creating what fans called "The Most Unexpected Draft Moment Ever."
The now three-time MVP has been dodging Taco Bell ever since.
"I think I've never had the Taco Bell just because of that," Jokić previously admitted.³
So naturally, Taco Bell executives thought they could capitalize on the decade-old embarrassment by publicly begging the basketball superstar to finally take a bite.
Corporate Executives Get Humiliated in Public Apology Stunt
Taco Bell rolled out a full marketing campaign around convincing Jokić to try the Quesarito.
The company issued what they called a "friendly apology" for the coincidence that paired their commercial with his draft moment.⁴
"To make amends for one of the most unexpected internet moments of the last decade, Taco Bell is calling on three-time MVP and Denver Nuggets center, Nikola Jokić to finally try Taco Bell and the Quesarito for the very first time," the company announced.
The Denver Nuggets even got in on the publicity stunt, apparently allowing Taco Bell to hand out T-shirts to fans before a game against the Houston Rockets that urged Jokić to finally try the menu item.
https://twitter.com/PasionBasketNBA/status/2002721648420462927
"No way," Jokić said when he spotted the shirts. "That's funny. I'm not gonna do it. Not gonna do it."⁵
But Taco Bell kept pushing, hoping their corporate apology tour would finally break down the NBA champion's resistance.
When reporters directly asked whether he would try the Quesarito, Jokić delivered the two words that crushed Taco Bell's entire marketing scheme.
"No. It's nice they're finally apologizing. But no."⁶
The response was pure Jokić — direct, honest, and completely uninterested in corporate gimmicks.
Taco Bell executives thought they'd get their feel-good comeback story. Instead, Jokić just made them look like bigger fools than they did in 2014.
Taco Bell Just Got Schooled by a Guy Who Won't Play Corporate Games
Here's what Jokić's two-word smackdown tells you about everything that's broken with corporate America.
Taco Bell turned an embarrassing accident into a decade-long publicity campaign, somehow thinking they could leverage someone else's awkward moment for profit.
The NBA superstar has built a career on authenticity — he was literally asleep when he got drafted because nobody expected him to go in the second round.
Now he's a three-time MVP who led Denver to an NBA championship, all while maintaining the same no-nonsense attitude that made him ignore corporate pressure campaigns.
Meanwhile, Taco Bell has turned nostalgic menu returns into a business model, bringing back discontinued items at inflated prices while wrapping everything in manufactured nostalgia.
The item now carries a $4.99 price tag — a steep markup from its original launch price that reflects broader fast-food inflation.⁷
But executives thought they could distract customers from the sticker shock by creating fake drama around a basketball player who never asked to be part of their marketing plans.
Jokić's refusal to play along sends a clear message: authentic people don't participate in manufactured corporate moments, especially when companies are trying to profit off their genuine embarrassment.
The Serbian center earned more respect with two words than Taco Bell did with their entire publicity campaign.
¹ Westword, "Taco Bell Quesarito Returns with Nikola Jokić-Targeted Ad Campaign," December 17, 2025.
² Taco Bell Corp., "TACO BELL® BRINGS BACK THE QUESARITO WITH ONE WISH," December 17, 2025.
³ Denver Post, "Taco Bell apologizes to Nikola Jokic for Quesarito draft-day moment," December 19, 2025.
⁴ PRNewswire, "TACO BELL® BRINGS BACK THE QUESARITO," December 17, 2025.
⁵ Bleacher Report, "Taco Bell Gives Nuggets Fans Quesarito Shirts In Honor of Nikola Jokic Draft Video," December 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Fox Business, "2012 Taco Bell receipt reminds the internet how cheap things were before inflation," January 22, 2024.
