When SpeedPro saw a viral TikTok video of a homeless man with the simple dream of owning his own business, the only thing they knew was that they had to step up to craft a creative advertising and branding solution in support of fueling a local community entrepreneur
SpeedPro, the nation's leading large-format printing and graphics group, has joined forces with The Dream Machine Foundation to help homeless chef, Tony Rojas, make his dream of owning a food truck become a reality. During a stop in Colorado Springs, Rojas approached Charlie Rocket’s Dream Machine to tell his story. Founded by Charlie “Rocket” Jabaley, former music manager, Grammy Award© winner, Iron Man athlete, brain tumor survivor and philanthropist, he has now dedicated his life to helping those without the means to achieve their wildest dreams through The Dream Machine Foundation.
Rojas’ story was so compelling, the foundation quickly came to his aid to raise money to get him and his wife into a home and provide Rojas with an opportunity to cook again by donating a decked-out food truck. After going viral over social media in a TikTok video that got more than 35,000,000 views in 24 hours, people across the globe started to take notice of Rojas’ journey. To date, the TikTok video has garnered over 65,000,000 views and over $80,000 in donations have been raised from patrons and fans around the world for Tony. SpeedPro approached the organization to donate printing production and installation of a boldly branded wrap for the food truck with the goal of driving traffic to Tony’s Nachos Tacos food truck – not only online, but also in the local community, to bring customers to the window.
An experienced chef, Rojas lost his job during the pandemic and he and his wife had been living out of a van for 2 years. Despite his hardships, Rojas’ dream was to be able to cook for people again. According to Rojas, “[He] just doesn’t want to give up.” His new food truck, Tony’s Nacho Tacos, unveiled last October and immediately began serving up tacos stuffed with nachos. Amid setbacks over the last few months of 2022, including the truck needing repairs, Tony continues to persevere, inspire and encourage others their dreams can become reality.
Based in Denver, SpeedPro specializes in large-format printing and graphics, including wraps for vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Having a well-branded, eye-catching food truck is a key element to attracting customers and helping to fill another one of Rojas’ dreams, keeping long lines outside of Tony’s Nacho Tacos.
“Vehicle wraps are one of our specialties, so there was no question this was something we had to do. As a network of independently-owned large-format printing franchises, “SpeedPro is comprised of entrepreneurs and we help other entrepreneurs to succeed in any way we can,” said Vice President of Marketing, Danielle Yuthas.
SpeedPro produced the design in three weeks to accommodate the reveal of the vehicle to Tony and the launch of Tony’s Nacho Truck in Colorado. With the design work done by lead illustrator Nico Riccione at Dreamr, an affiliate of the Dream Machine Foundation, SpeedPro took care of the technical aspects of the project, including accurately measuring the trailer to make sure the wrap was just the right fit. Reinventing Tony’s Nacho Tacos truck was done in a high-quality digitally printed graphic wrap. The creative and eye-capturing wrap design incorporates brightly colored hues of turquoise, yellow and coral with playful fonts. Tony’s Nacho Tacos’ logo gains impressions on every side of the vehicle. The result is a bright, fiesta-like design that invites happiness and community.
A creative solution that can be one of a company’s best ROIs in terms of advertising spend, vehicle graphics have increased in popularity and are a dynamic trend. With an economy navigating a long road back to recovery from the pandemic, and capability to generate an estimated 30,000 to 70,000 impressions per day, vehicle wraps have become a way for businesses to embrace cost-effective, efficient advertising and branding.