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This just popped up on my YT recommendations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEcz8I64Mz0
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Nov 6, 2020 01:58
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 10:38 |
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That’s a masterpiece of marketing failure. Incredible.
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Nov 6, 2020 04:12
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Wow, never heard of Rax and that video was quite the ride (that ended up slowing way down towards the end). I thought it was going to be an awful product or terrible song or something that did them in. But a really boring-on-purpose mascot was not something I saw coming.
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Nov 6, 2020 04:21
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Rax was big in Ohio and nearby states but I'm not sure they existed anywhere else.
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Nov 6, 2020 04:30
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ultrafilter posted:Rax was big in Ohio and nearby states but I'm not sure they existed anywhere else. There was one outside of Minneapolis in the late 80s through the early 90s. It was right by a Children's Place iirc.
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Nov 6, 2020 04:44
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Wow, that's like the Spongmonkey Quiznos ad of the 80's, in that it's clearly an attempt to commercialize the edgy, alt-humor of the day which falls flat because no one is motivated to buy food by weirdness and cynicism. Like if you told me Mr. Delicious was from a one-off cartoon out of Mad Magazine or National Lampoon, I'd buy it.
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Nov 6, 2020 04:44
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Last Chance posted:Wow, never heard of Rax and that video was quite the ride (that ended up slowing way down towards the end). I thought it was going to be an awful product or terrible song or something that did them in. But a really boring-on-purpose mascot was not something I saw coming. I didn't do the research for this lazy post, so I don't know which came first, but I feel like they were trying to do the whole OK Soda thing both too early and to the wrong audience. Not precisely the OK Soda thing - it also feels sort of spliced with the detournement of 50s imagery that was also in vogue around that time, e.g. Subgenius clipart and Nick at Nite ad bumpers - but whatever. It wasn't actually good, at any rate. Maybe the food was, though: this week's Doughboys Double was about Rax, weirdly enough, and their guest absolutely raved about it. They're technically still around but for just about anyone it'll be a road trip detour, I guess. e: f;b ^^^
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Nov 6, 2020 04:50
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I thought the food was great when I was a kid, and my parents never really complained about it.
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Nov 6, 2020 04:51
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Friendly's finally closed! Goddamn they were going bankrupt all the way back in 2010 when I had to work on their insane million high five campaign.
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Nov 6, 2020 09:35
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ultrafilter posted:I thought the food was great when I was a kid, and my parents never really complained about it. Wasn't it kind of like an arby's but with a wendy's style 'superbar' salad bar? Which was just the sizzler salad bar with less stuff, really.
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Nov 6, 2020 10:45
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Sekhmnet posted:Wasn't it kind of like an arby's but with a wendy's style 'superbar' salad bar? Which was just the sizzler salad bar with less stuff, really. Yeah and really good milkshakes iirc
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Nov 6, 2020 10:59
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BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:Yeah and really good milkshakes iirc Yep.
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Nov 6, 2020 14:38
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ultrafilter posted:Rax was big in Ohio and nearby states but I'm not sure they existed anywhere else. Rax spread far and fast, which also contributed to it's downfall. I definitely ate at one a lot when I was a kid living in the greater Seattle area. I had several Uncle Alligator water bottles. I keep telling myself that one day I'm going to take a roadtrip to the Rax that's like 2 hours away from me.
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Nov 6, 2020 15:38
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“Rax” sounds like a Hooters knockoff.
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Nov 6, 2020 15:45
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We still had a Rax here up until a few years ago but between the owners being caught up in Amway and the high school across the street closing campus for lunch, they went under. Food was still good up until the end though, definitely better than the Arbys down the way.
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Nov 6, 2020 15:47
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Barudak posted:Friendly's finally closed! Goddamn they were going bankrupt all the way back in 2010 when I had to work on their insane million high five campaign. I thought they closed back in like 2015 but then I saw one listed when I was looking at places near where I’ll be moving to in Massachusetts and was absolutely baffled. Did anyone actually like anything there besides the ice cream?
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Nov 6, 2020 16:10
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Saucer Crab posted:We still had a Rax here up until a few years ago but between the owners being caught up in Amway and the high school across the street closing campus for lunch, they went under. Food was still good up until the end though, definitely better than the Arbys down the way. I have a fuzzy memory of either seeing a Rax or their ads while being on family roadtrips, but never ate in one. Just asked my husband if he remembers Rax, and he said "oh yeah, I worked at one in Bellingham, WA". (The things you find out after being together 17 years, man.) His quick description, oddly enough, was "low-rent Arby's".
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Nov 6, 2020 16:18
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JacquelineDempsey posted:
So... Arby’s? I’m always surprised when I see an Arby’s around because I always mistake them for Roy Rogers, which did go weirdly out-of-business-but-not-really.
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Nov 6, 2020 16:20
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One of my relatives was a lawyer on the Rax bankruptcy case, and they were so impressed with his work that they gave him this: I have it now because no one else wanted it.
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Nov 6, 2020 16:43
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Ugly In The Morning posted:So... Arby’s? I’m always surprised when I see an Arby’s around because I always mistake them for Roy Rogers, which did go weirdly out-of-business-but-not-really. Last I noticed there are still weirdly a few Roy Rogers on the PA and NJ turnpike at various rest stops. There used to be one outside our local mall when I was a kid, and my dad was obsessed with going there for the salad bar for some reason.
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Nov 6, 2020 16:44
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ultrafilter posted:One of my relatives was a lawyer on the Rax bankruptcy case, and they were so impressed with his work that they gave him this: I would wear that 100% of the time if I owned it. Even to bed and in the shower and stuff.
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Nov 6, 2020 16:47
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hallo spacedog posted:Last I noticed there are still weirdly a few Roy Rogers on the PA and NJ turnpike at various rest stops. They basically only exist in rest stops now for whatever reason, which seems like a really weird business model.
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Nov 6, 2020 16:51
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Solice Kirsk posted:I would wear that 100% of the time if I owned it. Even to bed and in the shower and stuff. 
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Nov 6, 2020 16:53
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Ugly In The Morning posted:They basically only exist in rest stops now for whatever reason, which seems like a really weird business model. It seems like the kind that happens by accident, where you close everything not turning a profit and end up with a mess of edge cases.
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Nov 6, 2020 16:54
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I only ever see Old Country Buffets by the expressways too.
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Nov 6, 2020 16:56
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Solice Kirsk posted:I would wear that 100% of the time if I owned it. Even to bed and in the shower and stuff. In addition to being ugly, it's incredibly cheaply made. It wouldn't withstand regular use.
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Nov 6, 2020 17:01
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Solice Kirsk posted:I only ever see Old Country Buffets by the expressways too. Same with Cracker Barrels.
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Nov 6, 2020 17:19
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Ofecks posted:Same with Cracker Barrels. That's Cracker Barrel's business model, they're always on the outside of town by a freeway. Also old people who like bland food.
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Nov 6, 2020 17:23
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Iron Crowned posted:That's Cracker Barrel's business model, they're always on the outside of town by a freeway. Also old people who like bland food. I had a reaction similar to when you get to watch an odometer roll over to reveal a pleasing line of zeroes the first time my mother, quite earnestly and without prompting, told me about how good the food at Cracker Barrel is and how much she looks forward to it (pre-COVID, she and my dad were taking a lot of post-retirement road trips). I was like, ah, I knew you had gotten old, but now I know you are a Senior Citizen.
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Nov 6, 2020 17:40
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Is it ok to like the hash brown casserole? Well, to be fair, the last time I went it wasn’t nearly as good but I always enjoyed it when we went as kids.
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Nov 6, 2020 17:45
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ultrafilter posted:In addition to being ugly, it's incredibly cheaply made. It wouldn't withstand regular use. Please don't doxx me 
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Nov 6, 2020 17:56
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I thought Friendly's was supposed to still have stores open when they exited bankruptcy?
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Nov 6, 2020 18:04
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I maintain that Cracker Barrel used to be really good, but it's hard to say really. Sure feels like their biscuits get smaller and smaller though. For a road trip stop, though, it's at least got a pleasant atmosphere compared to a lot of other options.
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Nov 6, 2020 18:06
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Sir Lemming posted:
If I’m still traveling it sucks because I have never seen one that wasn’t stupid slow. When I’ve ditched my poo poo at the hotel and it’s right next door, though, it is glourious.
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Nov 6, 2020 18:09
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True, I do usually avoid it anyway because of the slowness and the general disappointing feeling of it. But sometimes the mood does strike me to go for the whole faux-cozy feeling of it all. Otherwise it's usually Bob Evans.
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Nov 6, 2020 18:32
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Sir Lemming posted:True, I do usually avoid it anyway because of the slowness and the general disappointing feeling of it. But sometimes the mood does strike me to go for the whole faux-cozy feeling of it all. Otherwise it's usually Bob Evans. They always remind me of the weekends in middle/high school where I would get dragged along because my dad and brother were doing civil war reenacting in MD/PA/VA. For whatever reason basically every chain hotel near a civil war battlefield has a Cracker Barrel basically in the parking lot.
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Nov 6, 2020 18:56
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Ugly In The Morning posted:So... Arby’s? I’m always surprised when I see an Arby’s around because I always mistake them for Roy Rogers, which did go weirdly out-of-business-but-not-really. Back in March when covid first started crushing restaurants and I was unemployed, car-less, and squatting in a lovely food desert of a neighborhood, the only hot food I could get when I scrounged up some change was the Arby's three blocks over. Their fish sandwich, of all things, was really loving good. But it was a limited time thing. Now I understand the pain/excitement of people who flip over the availability of the McRib. Roy Rogers... that was a staple when I lived on Long Island in the 90's, but yeah, the last time I got something from there was probably some rest stop on I-95. Since this seems to be a popular derail in a lot of PYF threads (Dumb Marketing Moves just had this same thing happen when someone posted the Rax video), think I might start a PYF Fast Food Memories.
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Nov 6, 2020 19:43
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Since this seems to be a popular derail in a lot of PYF threads (Dumb Marketing Moves just had this same thing happen when someone posted the Rax video), think I might start a PYF Fast Food Memories. Do it!
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Nov 6, 2020 19:45
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Pastry of the Year posted:Do it! 
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Nov 6, 2020 19:47
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 10:38 |
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Pastry of the Year posted:Do it!
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Nov 6, 2020 19:47
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