Peru’s Xipe Tex-Mex flipped messy eating into a fashion satire by transforming sauce stains into luxury-style logos like Nike and Lacoste. With the tagline “It’s not fashion. It’s Tex-Mex,” the campaign celebrated unapologetic messiness, going viral for turning spills into status symbols. The creative was led by agency Fiasco.
Xipe Tex-Mex, a lively Peruvian Tex-Mex restaurant known for its unapologetically bold flavours, has taken the universal experience of messy eating and turned it into a cultural statement—and a mischievous marketing triumph. In a digital world where restaurants obsess over spotless plating and perfectly curated food shots, Xipe Tex-Mex embraced the exact opposite. They celebrated the chaos. They celebrated the drips. They celebrated the stains that happen when food is worth diving into. And in doing so, they transformed accidental messes into luxury fashion icons.
The idea was sparked by something simple but universal: customers were proudly posting their messy eating moments online. Piles of nachos collapsing under their own weight, tacos dripping salsa, burritos leaking goodness down people’s hands and shirts—this wasn’t the polished, pristine food content dominating Instagram. It was real, unfiltered, joyful, outrageous eating. And Xipe saw something bigger in these moments: authenticity. People weren’t ashamed of the mess—they were delighted by it. And in that delight, the brand found its opening.
Working with creative agency Fiasco, Xipe Tex-Mex took the stains people usually rush to wipe away and reimagined them as if they were high-end luxury logos. A swoosh of ketchup was shaped into Nike’s unmistakable tick. A splash of hot sauce became a Lacoste crocodile. Chili smudges morphed into patterns reminiscent of Burberry. Guacamole drops formed the shape of luxury monograms. The imagery was playful, cheeky and instantly recognisable—but with a twist: none of the symbols were perfect. They were splattered, smeared, messy. And that was the point.
Each image carried the bold campaign line: “It’s not fashion. It’s Tex-Mex.”
It was a declaration, a provocation and a celebration all at once. Instead of aspiring to the polished perfection of fashion campaigns, Xipe Tex-Mex elevated the raw, the real, and the messy into something worthy of showing off. In a swipe at the world’s obsession with flawless presentation, the brand spills the new status symbols. The aftermath, not the arrangement, became the art.
At its core, the campaign rejects the idea that food must be neat to be premium. Instead, it embraces that great Tex-Mex—real Tex-Mex—is meant to be devoured, enjoyed, and inevitably worn. This is the kind of food that drips down your wrist, stains your shirt and splashes onto the table. It is food that refuses to be prim and proper. And Xipe Tex-Mex framed that truth not as a flaw but as a flex.
The campaign also tapped into the shifting online culture of food. While restaurant marketing traditionally gravitates toward clean, plated, menu-ready images, the new generation of diners often values honesty, humour and spontaneity instead. Messy food content has gone viral repeatedly on TikTok and Instagram, proving that people crave experiences over appearances. Xipe Tex-Mex understood this shift and acted on it with precision.
Behind the campaign was the team at Fiasco, whose playful, culture-savvy approach shaped the creative execution. Co-founder and chief creative officer Gabriel Bergelund spearheaded the concept, bringing a fashion-meets-food irreverence that made the idea stand out. Art director Jose Jaramillo brought the visuals to life, meticulously crafting stains into luxury-inspired marks while intentionally preserving their rough, organic texture. Senior post-production producer Diego Vitteri ensured every messy detail looked artfully accidental. On the strategy and client management side, account director Romina Salas Arroyo and senior account executive Rafaella Malpartida kept the concept grounded in the brand’s identity and audience insights. Social copywriter Daniela Zevallos gave the campaign its voice—playful, bold, and delightfully self-aware.
The campaign didn’t just poke fun at high fashion—it made a statement about cultural authenticity. Tex-Mex cuisine, with its bold flavours and generous portions, is inherently messy. It’s meant to be eaten with enthusiasm, not etiquette. By positioning mess as something to be proud of, Xipe reconnected diners with the fun and freedom of eating without performance. It was a reminder that food should be enjoyed, not staged.
At a deeper level, the campaign challenged the visual codes of luxury branding. Luxury logos are designed to be pristine, symmetrical, perfect. By recreating them through splashes and stains, Xipe flipped their meaning. The symbols became symbols of indulgence rather than exclusivity. Instead of signalling wealth or status, they signalled appetite, pleasure and the shared joy of eating something so good you stop caring about the mess. The campaign subverted elitism with humour, transforming everyday food moments into iconic images.
And the public response reflected that humour. The images caught attention instantly on social media, where the juxtaposition of messy stains and luxury symbols provoked amusement and admiration. People shared the visuals widely, tagged friends, and even posted their own “fashion stains.” The line between eating and expression blurred, just as the campaign intended. What could have been dismissed as a small restaurant’s quirky experiment instead became a cultural moment—proof that creative, low-budget ideas can resonate as powerfully as big-budget campaigns.
For Xipe Tex-Mex, the campaign did more than generate likes or press. It deepened the brand’s identity. It validated the messy joy of its food. It positioned the restaurant as playful, bold, and self-aware—urgent qualities for a brand competing in a crowded food scene where originality often matters more than scale. Most importantly, it reconnected with its audience by celebrating something people were already doing: embracing the beautiful mess of real eating.
“It’s not fashion. It’s Tex-Mex.” The line continues to resonate because it captures a truth bigger than food. It reflects a cultural shift toward authenticity, imperfection, and fun. It celebrates the idea that not everything needs to be polished to be iconic. A stain can be a memory. A mess can be a moment. A sauce splash can be a story.
And for Xipe Tex-Mex, that messy story just became its signature style.
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