"Real life" Jerry Maguire trio: Shaquille O'Neal, super agent Leonard Armato and L.A. Lakers E.V.P., Jerry West, team up for a "Show Me The Tacos" Taco Bell commercial; Shaq's new Taco Neck Injury helps him shoot better.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 1997--Shaquille O'Neal, super agent Leonard Armato and L.A. Lakers Executive Vice President Jerry West team up for the first time in a new Taco Bell commercial. Derek Fisher, Eddie Jones and L.A. Lakers Girls are also featured.

The commercial reveals that Shaq is suffering from a mysterious neck injury. Shaq's insatiable craving for delicious Taco Bell tacos causes him to bend his neck sideways with every bite resulting in what the team doctor has diagnosed as "Taco Neck Syndrome," commonly referred to as T.N.S.

"The good news is that Shaq's Taco Neck Syndrome actually helps his shooting," said Peter Waller, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Taco Bell Corp. "This commercial is a natural for Shaq because he's doing two of his favorite things, playing basketball and eating tacos."

"He's eating so many tacos, and obviously the Lakers are concerned about that, because we think it might impact his performance when he starts playing again," said Jerry West. "The solution is to get people to eat more tacos on the other side."

Leonard Armato, Shaq's manager/attorney and chairman of MPE (Management Plus Enterprise) commented, "There's a clear indication from the medical community that they're going to have to have tacos on the bench, so that he'll be able to eat tacos from the trainer on the left side of the bench, and then the coach on the right side of the bench, so it all should balance out. The solution is to get people to eat more tacos."

PARALLELS TO JERRY MAGUIRE:

According to Shaq, the character Jerry Maguire was patterned after his agent Leonard Armato who is making his commercial debut in this Taco Bell spot.

Asked if Shaq ever demanded "show me the money," Armato said, "No, he only said show me the tacos."

"Contrary to what most people think, agents really do a great job with their players for the most part," said Jerry West, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations, L.A. Lakers. "I think the most important thing for an agent is to have his client's best interest at heart."

"Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire was an over-the-top guy," said Leonard Armato. "He would probably not only have gone broke, but he would have had to have a night job as well dealing with a client who didn't have any income."

Armato added, "To have one client like Shaquille O'Neal would be the most ideal situation of all time." When asked what did Shaq ask from you when he first signed on, Armato responded, "I think most people when they're going from college to professional athletics don't have a great vision of what the future will hold. I think he really wanted someone he could trust, someone he felt could look out for his best interests.

"The one thing that's very similar between the relationship I have with him, and the relationship you saw between Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding is that you really do take care of the person, you really want to look out for them all the time. Not only when they're injured, but when they're healthy, when times are good, when times are bad."

The Shaq Taco Neck Syndrome commercial is scheduled to air next week during prime time on network television. A second T.N.S. commercial called "Doctor" will air around the same time. The 30-second commercials were created by Bozell Worldwide.

The Taco Neck Syndrome commercial is Shaquille O'Neal's fourth ad campaign for Taco Bell since signing on in 1995. Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon starred in Taco Bell's Double Decker Taco advertising and won USA Today's Ad Track as one of the most watched, most effective spots ever. The duo also appeared in commercials for the "One-on-One" Championship. Shaq also starred in the 4-Alarm Double Decker commercial.

Taco Bell is a division of PepsiCo, Inc. and is the nation's leading Mexican-style quick-service restaurant chain with more than $4.7-billion in annual system-wide sales. Taco Bell serves 55 million consumers each week.

CONTACT: Amy Sherwood

714/863-4300

or

Laurie Gannon

714/863-3970

or

Beth Schueler, MPE

310/581-2000