What Is A Drive-Through Photo Booth & Can It Boost Business?

The benefits of a photo booth for corporations as a way to boost businesses have been known for a very long time. 

Photography has brought people together since the era of the daguerreotype and the spontaneity and close connections photo booths inherently bring is something that has endured for decades.

Possibly the most unusual recent example of using that close connection and photo booths as part of unusual marketing campaigns can be seen in the Taco Bell Live Mas Drive-Thru Cam found at a select number of their takeaway restaurants.

Unlike a conventional modern photo booth, it relies on a bespoke app which allows them to scan a QR code at a stop point just after a car receives its order of tacos, burritos and quesadillas.

The stop point has two cameras, one aimed at the driver’s side window and one at the passenger’s side, but both will take six pictures that will be sent to the email address the Taco Bell app account is registered with.

The aim of the campaign according to Taco Bell is to capture “moments” “memories” and “energy” that comes from their customers and makes the brand what it is.

It is linked to a 30-second ad spot that is set to air during Super Bowl LIX, historically one of the most expensive advertising slots of the year in the United States and one which traditionally leads brands to try new, elaborate and ambitious campaigns. In 2023 an ad slot cost $7m.

People can opt in to potentially have their photographs selected during the ad spot, which means that a car-based photo booth picture could potentially be seen by hundreds of millions of people. 

The previous year’s match had a viewership of 123.7m people in the US and countless others internationally, making it the most-watched broadcast since the Moon Landing in America, and that could put a lot of eyes on photo booths in 2025.