History Advertising / MrDelicious

** In one TV ad, Mr. D brings us this beauty: "Mr. Delicious just had some rather delicate surgery. If there's no change, he doesn't have to squirm too much to put it back in his pocket, now does he? He just grabs his combo and drives ever so slowly over the speed bump." Any guesses as to where exactly he got that "rather delicate surgery"?

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: It's unknown whether or not this was intentional but Mr. D's appearance, voice, and [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating]] humor makes him resemble a sadder Creator/RodneyDangerfield.

* RealMenWearPink: One radio commercial revealed that Mr Delicious enjoys reading Harlequin romance novels with his meal. Rax's former CEO said that he got complaints from his franchisees in rural areas that Mr. Delicious was too effeminate.

* HollywoodMidLifeCrisis: Mr. D had one in 1989, that involved getting custom hair weaves and attempting to get a refund for them, putting a disco ball in his basement, and a vacation to Bora Bora with two young..."friends".

* AnimationAgeGhetto: Invoked by Mr. D himself in his introductory ad. He believes the viewer will pass him off as immature due to be animated but he assures that he's a "special cartoon for adults".

By August 1992, the chain had fallen far from grace and into obscurity. So, as a last-ditch effort to bring back their lost customers, a new advertising mascot was created. That mascot was Mr. Delicious, a monochromatic middle-aged divorcee who hated his life but loved going to Rax. The nihilistic tone of the ads was meant to appeal to Gen X humor, but instead ended up driving away Rax's remaining customers, most of whom were baby boomers. Far from saving Rax's hide, it was a nail in the coffin: the chain filed for bankruptcy three months after the ads premiered. After a failed restructuring that led to a second bankruptcy declaration in 1996, and the Rax brand getting passed around through several owners over the next few decades, only five locations currently remain (three in Ohio and one each in Illinois and Kentucky).[[note]]Basically, Rax doesn't really exist as a chain anymore, but as a set of independent franchisees who have the rights to use the name and branding.[[/note]]

* TheEeyore: While he's not over-the-top with his mopey nature, "deadpan" and "dour" are certainly not words you would've ever thought to associate with a fast food mascot.

* {{Mockumentary}}: The minidoc, which talks about how Mr. Delicious was created and features loads of interviews with people talking about how great he is.

By August 1992, the chain had fallen far from grace and into obscurity. So, as a last-ditch effort to bring back their lost customers, a new advertising mascot was created. That mascot was Mr. Delicious, a monochromatic middle-aged divorcee who hated his life but loved going to Rax. The nihilistic tone of the ads was meant to appeal to Gen X humor, but instead ended up driving away Rax's remaining customers, most of whom were baby boomers. Far from saving Rax's hide, it was a nail in the coffin: the chain filed for bankruptcy three months after the ads premiered. After a failed restructuring that led to a second bankruptcy declaration in 1996, and the Rax getting passed around through several owners over the next few decades, only five locations currently remain (three in Ohio and one each in Illinois and Kentucky).[[note]]Basically, Rax doesn't really exist as a chain anymore, but as a set of independent franchisees who have the rights to use the name and branding.[[/note]]

By August 1992, the chain had fallen far from grace and into obscurity. So, as a last-ditch effort to bring back their lost customers, a new advertising mascot was created. That mascot was Mr. Delicious, a monochromatic middle-aged divorcee who hated his life but loved going to Rax. The nihilistic tone of the ads was meant to appeal to Gen X humor, but instead ended up driving away Rax's remaining customers, most of whom were baby boomers. Far from saving Rax's hide, it was a nail in the coffin: the chain filed for bankruptcy three months after the ads premiered. After a failed restructuring that led to a second bankruptcy declaration in 1996, and the Rax getting passed around through several owners over the next few decades, only five locations currently remain (in Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio).[[note]]Basically, Rax doesn't really exist as a chain anymore, but as a set of independent franchisees who have the rights to use the name and branding.[[/note]]

** Mr. Delicious also anticipated two of the more infamous marketing failures from later in the decade: Coca-Cola's failed OK Soda, which had advertising based on a similarly offbeat, deadpan sensibility, and UsefulNotes/McDonalds' Arch Deluxe burger, which was similarly centered on a "fast food for adults" theme.

* UnbuiltTrope: Fast food chains doing unorthodox advertising centered around quirky humor became commonplace by the 2010s, with UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken doing a series of commercials with a rotating set of actors playing Colonel Sanders, and sponsoring a [[VisualNovel/ILoveYouColonelSanders visual novel]] and a [[Film/ARecipeForSeduction soapy short film]] that aired on Creator/{{Lifetime}} with Sanders as a lead character, plus UsefulNotes/{{Arbys}} having a long campaign with Creator/VingRhames doing oddball voiceover monologues (and a shorter one with Creator/HJonBenjamin as the chain's supposed "Head of Sandwiches"). Had he debuted in 2018 or so, Mr. Delicious would've fit perfectly in that trend, but he was just flat-out bizarre and creepy in 1992.

Rax Roast Beef (originally known as ''JAX'' Roast Beef) was a chain of fast food restaurants in the US, specializing in roast beef sandwiches. At one point, they were the main competitor to Arby's, with more than 500 locations in 38 states. By the time the 80s rolled around, however, Rax tried diversifying things -- adding new menu items like pizza, Chinese food, tacos, a salad bar, etc.; as well as redesigning its restaurants. This seeming identity crisis only served to turn away Rax's primarily working class customer base, resulting in profits plummeting.

By August 1992, the chain had fallen far from grace and into obscurity. So, as a last-ditch effort to bring back their lost customers, a new advertising mascot was created. That mascot was Mr. Delicious, a monochromatic middle-aged divorcee who hated his life but loved going to Rax. The nihilistic tone of the ads was meant to appeal to Gen X humor, but instead ended up driving away Rax's remaining customers, most of whom were baby boomers. Far from saving Rax's hide, it was a nail in the coffin: the chain filed for bankruptcy three months after the ads premiered, and today only five locations are known to remain (in Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio).

* TakeThat: One of the still ads says, "Mr. Delicious prefers eating at Rax because big clowns and bright yellow formica upset his stomach!", more than likely a jab at [=McDonald's=].