The Commercial that Killed a Fast Food Chain

I have been working on this video for like two years, I think about Mr. Delicious at least once a week. He sells aluminum siding, but also goes to Bora Bora with...sex workers? Maybe? He's on his second marriage. He spends too much time at a bar called The Rusty Anchor. He is both effete and signals that he is wealthy while also being working-class? He also likes to read ROMANCE NOVELS WHILE EATING RAX?! So I guess that's what in the suitcase???

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[vlogbrothers]

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[CJ_Carpenter]

The funny thing is that these days, these commercials would've been so prime for meme material that their ads may have actually worked.

[AINGELPROJECT]

The real shame of it is that if Rax came out with ads like this today, it probably would be an instant hit. Rax literally discovered shitposting a generation or two too soon.

[TSD]

Imagine a world where Rax survived and a Mr. Delicious twitter account was going at it with Wendy's.

[therealpopculturepizza]

Mr. Delicious is absolutely goddamn hilarious, especially with the line delivery. He really does feel like a jaded 1950s vaccuum cleaner salesman who has no idea how to market roast beef sandwiches. I want him unironically to make a comeback.

[turbosoggy]

“You can eat here” is hilarious. That would totally work today

[basicwhitegirl]

In 2020, “you can eat here” is now a bold claim

[WoeReeVade]

The fact that somebody sold the idea of Mr. Delicious to a company is a testament to their marketing ability.

[terryloh]

The fact that Mr. Delicious arrives in the infamous Corvair, the car deemed 'unsafe at any speed' adds another meta element to the character.

[mono.isgtds]

this gives me strong adult swim vibes, the jazz in the background, the salesman randomly talking about therapy and the weird tag line.

[Zyphon]

"You can eat here" was a terrible catchphrase. It should've been "Give money, get food"

[DirkDjently]

Mr. Delicious looks like Hank Hill as a 1960's door-to-door vacuum salesman and sounds like Carl Sagan if he weren't enthusiastic about anything.

[Fluffyudders]

First, I just want to say that I REALLY appreciate how short this video is. Videos like this, on topics like this, are often 10-30 minutes in length and it's totally unnecessary. So thank you.
Second, I don't actually think this was a bad ad campaign, it was just WAY ahead of its time. It was all about subversion, and if this had hit in the late 90s or after I think it would have done pretty well.

[Ghoststone]

My first job was at Rax.
My boss stole my idea for a nacho bar on the salad bar. I overheard the district manager praise my boss for what a great idea he had and how well it was doing franchise-wide.
I was fresh from Hotel restaurant management school, and it was an eye-opening experience for me.
I'm glad they're gone. Karma will get you.
Always.

[pixelmentia]

"You can eat here."

Truly one of the restaurants of all time.

[bryanadkins]

Honestly, Mr D seems like another case of being ahead of your time can be just as lethal as being behind the times.

[adonaiyah]

The fact mr delicious has a 15 minute long documentary is insane

[bubblyrug]

"You can eat here" is one of the best slogans I've ever heard

[showmethedickens]

I just Wikipedia'd this and am dying laughing at this paragraph:

At its peak in the 1980s, the Rax chain had grown to 504 locations in 38 states along with an unknown number of restaurants in Guatemala.

[WedgeBob]

Yeah, this was the same identity crisis that Ponderosa went through, iirc. It's almost like, were they a Steakhouse? Were they a Tex-Mex restaurant? Were they an all you can eat buffet? Yeah, I think I see where THAT chain had trouble, too.