1851

If you&#8217;ve been online recently (which is sort of like saying, &#8220;If you&#8217;ve been breathing oxygen lately&#8221;), chances are you&#8217;ve come across a four-plus minute promotional video for Sizzler. In fact, if you Google the franchise right this second, the third result is USA Today screaming &#8220;Watch this Epic 1991 <a href="https://www.sizzler.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=a-brief-yet-important-study-of-this-glorious-sizzler-commercial-from-1991-1497" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sizzler</a> Commercial.&#8221; So that&#8217;s what I did. What follows are my notes. Much like cave paintings can teach anthropologists heaps about the history of humankind, I believe this commercial can impart essential information to modern brands. Namely, don&#8217;t do this. 0:03 &#8211; The music. Already with the music. 0:12 &#8211; Now there&#8217;s singing. Here we go. 0:18 &#8211; We&#8217;re less than 20 seconds in and there have already been so many staged images of Americana flashing across the screen. Creepy smiles directly into the camera galore. 0:25 &#8211; A salty sea captain?! 0:48 &#8211; Wow, this song. Words cannot do it justice. It is very clearly equating America and democracy and freedom with a buffet. 1:16 &#8211; And the narration has begun. 1:28 &#8211; A man holding a cell phone the size of a cinderblock just flashed across the screen. He&#8217;s obviously conducting very important business. 1:45 &#8211; I may have blacked out for a second there but I&#8217;m pretty sure it took nearly two minutes before they actually showed people eating at a Sizzler. 1:56 &#8211; The song is back! Wait, is this the same song? It sounds a little more rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll, a little more dangerous. 2:17 &#8211; A woman, clearly an actress trying very hard, just went bug-eyed and licked her lips lasciviously while staring at some food. It was &#8230; disturbing. And also my favorite part so far. 2:50 &#8211; A man just sat down and suspiciously kissed the bug-eyed actress before looking over his shoulder with a paranoid look in his eyes. I&#8217;d say these two are cheating with each other. At Sizzler. 3:46 &#8211; The narrator just said, &#8220;Sizzler for the &#8216;90s,&#8221; but I would have bet my life this was filmed in 1986 or before. Those shoulder pads. Yikes. 3:53&nbsp;&#8211; A woman wearing a sweatband shakes her head like a dog while sweat and/or water flies everywhere. Sure, why not? 4:29 &#8211; The commercial ends with the brand&#8217;s logo on screen and a creepy voice whispering its name. I got chills.

1851 Franchise

Franchisees can learn much from Sizzler's opus.

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