El Pollo Loco exposes ‘My Pleasure Place’.

El Pollo Loco, Inc. unveiled the first of four new Spanish language television commercials from its Hispanic advertising agency-of-record, Los Angeles-based cruz/kravetz:IDEAS.

Themed “My Pleasure Place,” the new spots signal a passionate twist on the Hispanic communication strategy El Pollo Loco introduced earlier: “The fresh Mexican sabor of our flame-grilled chicken brings out the loco in you.”

“Our creative approach with Hispanic audiences taps into their passion for the citrus-marinated, flame-grilled taste of El Pollo Loco. For many, the special way we prepare our chicken is reminiscent of food their families prepared as they were growing up,” explained Karen Eadon, chief marketing officer for El Pollo Loco, Inc. “With our new Spanish-language spots, we convey the intense pleasure people experience when they eat our food.”

Each of the four new spots reveals a situation where people surrender to the liberating sabor, or flavor, of El Pollo Loco’s juicy, flame-grilled chicken. As each spot begins, viewers follow one of the characters as he or she investigates the source of curious, sensual sounds. The reveal leads viewers to “My Pleasure Place,” a private setting where people are passionately engaged in the sumptuous experience of enjoying El Pollo Loco’s mouthwatering flame-grilled chicken.

El Pollo Loco’s new Spanish-language commercials differ from last year’s spots, which used soap opera-like situations to demonstrate El Pollo Loco’s power to bring people to a place of freedom that no news, no matter how outrageous, can spoil. The 2006 campaign elevates that place of freedom to an almost sensual level of enjoyment.

“Our new Spanish language television commercials bring to the forefront Hispanics’ passion and enthusiasm for El Pollo Loco,” shares Maite D’Amico, chief creative officer for cruz/kravetz:IDEAS. “The tagline, ‘Qué rico pollo’ (‘What incredible chicken!’) reinforces, in three short words, the intensely pleasurable relationship Hispanics have with El Pollo Loco. And to maximize brand awareness, we’ve arranged for each new spot to close with an animated treatment of the El Pollo Loco logo accompanied by playful harmony and the catchy ‘Qué rico pollo’ tagline.”

El Pollo Loco’s dual communication strategy involves the creation of separate campaigns for general audiences and Hispanic audiences, allowing the brand to customize messages to embrace its unique relationship with each audience. El Pollo Loco’s connection with Hispanics is based on the brand’s authentic Mexican roots and the familiarity many have with “pollo asado a la parilla,” chicken that is marinated and flame-grilled.

El Pollo Loco will air the four new television commercials in 2006. The first begins airing today on Spanish-language stations in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Fresno, Las Vegas, Reno, Sacramento, El Centro and Phoenix. For each spot, there is a :30 and :15 version. In addition, :60 radio spots will air in select West coast markets beginning April 17.