‘Breaking Bad’ city prospers from ‘drug’ trade

  • By Russell Contreras Associated Press
  • Friday, March 15, 2013 9:32pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A fast-food burrito chain in Albuquerque has become an international tourist attraction as people come from all over the world to see the spot where a fictional drug trafficker runs his organization.

A pastry shop sells doughnuts topped with blue candy designed to resemble crystal meth. A beauty store has a similar product: crystal blue bathing salts.

As “Breaking Bad” finishes filming its fifth and final season in Albuquerque, the popularity of the show is providing a boost to the economy and creating a dilemma for local tourism officials as they walk the fine line of profiting from a show that centers around drug trafficking, addiction and violence.

“Breaking Bad” follows the fictional character Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher turned meth lord.

Albuquerque has seen an unexpected jump in tourists visiting popular sites from the show and local businesses cashing in on its popularity. Tourists are also flocking to sites that before the show were unknown and unimportant: the suburban home of White, played by Bryan Cranston; a car wash that is a front for a money-laundering operation on the series; a rundown motel used frequently for filming; and the real-life burrito joint, which is a fast food chicken restaurant on the show.

The Albuquerque Convention &Visitors Bureau has even created a website of the show’s most popular places around town to help tourists navigate, and ABQ Trolley Company sold out all its “BaD” tours last year at $60 a ticket.

“They ask if they can take pictures. They ask if Gus is here,” said Rachel Johnson, 19, a shift manager at the Twisters burrito restaurant in Albuquerque’s South Valley, referring to the show’s character Gus Fring, played by actor Giancarlo Esposito.

The eatery has served as the location for the “Los Pollos Hermanos” restaurant where Fring runs “Breaking Bad’s” drug operation.

Other popular shows over the past decade like “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos” have generated tours and widespread interest in the filming locations, but “Breaking Bad” has seen a unique twist with the drug-themed products that have been springing up.

Debbie Ball, owner of The Candy Lady store, recently capitalized on the show’s popularity by selling blue “Breaking Bad” meth treats: sugar rock candy that looks like the meth sold on the show. Ball provided her candy as props of the show in the first two seasons and said she has sold 20,000 bags of the stuff at $1 apiece.

She also launched her own “Breaking Bad” limo tours this year with a driver dressed as Walter White.

“The show is amazing,” Ball said. “I don’t live too far from Walter White’s house.”

A pastry shop called the Rebel Donut has among its specialties “Blue Sky” Breaking Bad doughnuts, pieces decorated with blue rock candy.

And the Great Face &Body shop recently developed a new line of blue bath salts called “Bathing Bad.” (It’s actually bath salts used to bathe, not the street drug also known as “bath salt.”)

Meanwhile, Masks y Mas Mexican folk art store near the University of New Mexico sells papier mache statues of La Santa Muerte — Mexico’s folk Death Saint who counts drug traffickers among her devotees. During the chilling opening scene of the show’s third season, a pair of cartel assassins is shown crawling to the saint’s shrine in Mexico to request some divine help.

“We provided the Santa Muerte statues for that shrine in that episode,” said store owner Kiko Torres. “The stuff now sells out all of the time.”

Tania Armenta, a vice president for the Albuquerque Convention &Visitors Bureau, said the city has seen positive benefits from the show’s popularity, from demands for tours to inquiries from other production companies seeking to film in Albuquerque. The Legislature also passed what has been labeled the “Breaking Bad” bill this year that provides tax breaks to TV shows that film in New Mexico.

“It’s raised the visibility of the city,” Armenta said. “They are intrigued by the scenic images that they see.”

Still, tourism officials and business owners are quick to point out that they are walking a fine line in trying not to promote the dark themes from “Breaking Bad.” But their pride in the show taking place in Albuquerque — and the money that it brings in — is often enough to offset their concerns.

Ball said the show doesn’t glorify the drug war but rather educates the public on its dangers.

“Watch it with your children. Yes, it’s dark,” Ball said. “It actually educates you about meth, about making it and what actually happens to you when you walk down that road.”

The show’s themes prompted Miguel Jaramillo, 28, and Kim Shay, 38, both of Albuquerque, to take their own tour of the “Breaking Bad” sites around town during a recent afternoon.

While at the Crossroads Motel, known on the show as a den for meth use and prostitution, Jaramillo took photos with a smartphone and uploaded them to his Instagram account. In a day’s time, the pair had visited more than six sites and planned on seeing more.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

A stroll on Rome's ancient Appian Way is a kind of time travel. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves on the Appian Way, Rome’s ancient superhighway

Twenty-nine highways fanned out from Rome, but this one was the first and remains the most legendary.

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Inside Elle Marie Hair Studio in Smokey Point. (Provided by Acacia Delzer)
The best hair salon in Snohomish County

You voted, we tallied. Here are the results.

The 2024 Kia EV9 electric SUV has room for up to six or seven passengers, depending on seat configuration. (Photo provided by Kia)
Kia’s all-new EV9 electric SUV occupies rarified air

Roomy three-row electric SUVs priced below 60 grand are scarce.

2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD (Photo provided by Toyota)
2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD

The compact SUV electric vehicle offers customers the ultimate flexibility for getting around town in zero emission EV mode or road-tripping in hybrid mode with a range of 440 miles and 42 mile per gallon fuel economy.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.