Former Taco Bell interns claim they came up with Doritos Locos Taco in 1995

IRVINE, Calif., April 9 (UPI) -- Four former Taco Bell interns claim the idea for the Doritos Locos Taco, which launched in 2012 and has generated more than $1 billion in sales, is nothing new.

Andrea Watt claims she came up with the idea almost 20 years ago when she worked for the company back in 1995.

During her internship, Watt and three other college students submitted the idea of a Doritos-shell taco during a contest. The idea didn’t turn out to be a winner until much, much later.

“I’m sure I signed away that anything I pitched to them was their property anyway,” Watt told the Huffington Post. “I would just like someone to recognize that it was a good idea."

Watt still has a letter from a Taco Bell executive giving her feedback about the team's idea.

“I don’t know what the client ended up doing with them, but the client certainly saw all of the pitches,” said Bob Taber, who was an account supervisor at Taco Bell’s ad agency in 1995. “It’s not uncommon at all to come up with a new product idea that goes nowhere, but then years later pops up.”

The former intern’s LinkedIn page lists her as the original creator of the tasty tacos.

“When I saw it come out, my jaw almost dropped,” Watt said. “I’m surprised it took so long, it was just so obvious to us then. When we did our presentation they were like, ‘It’s not really that marketable,’ and we were like, ‘What?’”

[The Huffington Post]