Did Mr. Delicious kill RAX roast beef?

[@AlexDanielCPhT]

Rax was already dying before the Mr. Delicious ads started. So Mr. Delicious didn't cause Rax demise, he just failed to stave it off.

[@Lenioogami]

No, but Mr. Delicious ads didn't help improve their sales. Rax couldn't figure out how to attract their customers with mediocre menu options.

[@DrClawizdead]

Mr. Delicious was ahead of his time. I think his dry humor would be appreciated today.

[@DianaRussia531]

He may be alive and well... Mr Delicious is the spitting image of KZbin chef SAM THE COOKING GUY @samthecookingguy

[@Chelaxim]

@SimuLord I guess people forgot how ironic the 90s were. Daria,Alanis,Nirvana and the infamous line from the Simpsons "Are you being ironic?" "I don't even know anymore" The issue was young Gen X people aren't into roast beef sandwiches. They were using a MTV style commercial on people who watched Matlock.

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

You’re not wrong This guy is going through quite the revival

[@samcFW]

@@ChelaximThis is the answer. It’s like if the Cracker Barrel spokesperson started saying, “No cap… Cracker Barrel got that rizz!”

[@SteveFlanigan]

I worked as an assistant manager at a Rax in Florida. The district manager was a Gestapo agent wanna-be, (and resembled John Lennon from the Beetles.) He treated everyone as if they should bow-down to him the minute he appeared on the property. The main store manager would be forced at times to sleep in his car in the parking lot because his schedule would be 2-16 hour shifts back to back with maybe a two hour break in between. If he didn't like it, he was told to look for other employment. Staff was always under the microscope and constantly having their jobs threatened over the slightest mistake. A very hostile and toxic work environment to say the least.

[@KBTime]

Gross... not a good way to treat people

[@K4SRF]

​@@KBTime Agreed. That is why I sang Johnny Paycheck's song, "Take this job and shove it" when I walked out.

[@dirtypms]

​@@K4SRFOut of Rax or something else?

[@jasonsmith530]

Diggidy Dee

[@Musicvidsetc]

@@jasonsmith530 Tickadeedee, actually. Confirmed from a '92 print ad.

[@DeadKoby]

We had a local Rax, and it was changed over to a Hardees. That explains it.

[@fuzzz0]

I can tell you right now that Rax's problem was they didn't have a solid identity. Were they a burger place? A salad bar? A buffet? A taco joint? An Arby's duplicate? I'm also surprised a company can go through so many slogans. "You can eat here" or "fast food with style" or "we know what you like." They gotta stick with something!

[@caseyhafer2550]

Arby's duplicate. Look at the situation today. I NEVER thought I would see the day Arby's would serve burgers. It's like some kind of self-betrayal.

[@TVHouseHistorian]

Yes. Their personality was very bi-polar. For me, it was similar to Arby's, but better. I still miss it.

[@nuclearcatbaby1131]

They were an interstate road trip through flyover country kind of restaurant. You know like the Taco Bell-KFC hybrid’s you see in the Southwest.

[@Anthony-On-Drums]

And their catchphrase “I’d rather Rax” 😆

[@ScottPalmer-mp1we]

I used to go to Rax with friends as a limited budget college student in the early 80s. It was good and affordable. The salad bar was excellent and the roast beef sandwiches were great. If I recall correctly, the store got good business. I will admit that those ads are pretty rough. I probably saw those ads but don't recall them.

[@MisterCask]

3:45 the kid's meal mascot was an alligator named 'Uncle Alligator/Al', it was just a coincidence.

[@b3ans4eva]

Bill Underhill sounds like a pretty chill guy who wasn’t afraid to try to break the chain out of the fast food mold. It’s interesting that it was Citicorp was responsible for the downhill & Mr D just happened to be “wrong place, wrong time”. Seriously, though: what was in the briefcase?

[@LorenzoVargas1981]

Briefcase:Bottle of scotch,carton of lucky strikes,couple of 60s and 70s nudie mags,couple romance novels and a 1911 pistol

[@nicholastosoni707]

Whatever Samuel L. Jackson's after 😎

[@skinnyraptor9111]

@@LorenzoVargas1981 nice reference I think I saw that video to

[@skinnyraptor9111]

Honestly the moments with bill really give a good conclusion to the rax story. It was a cutthroat business and you had to do whatever it took to keep ahead day to day. Really Mr. delicious was no more stupid than any other fast food advertisement from that time, but it’s unique and that why we talk about it. Now excuse me I have a… surgery in a few hours.

[@anonmouse15]

Stuffed full of embezzled stockholder / venture capitalist investor funds.

[@guyfromcanadayup]

We keep going down the rabbit hole with Mr.D.

[@Attmay]

He seems like the perfect interview subject for *Fernwood 2Night.*

[@l.salisbury1253]

Mr. Delicious was not the only culprit- Rax is a textbook example of what NOT to do when starting/running a fastfood chain. First: "Rax" sounds more like a detergent than a restaurant franchise. Second: those "I'd rather Rax" jingles range from forgettable to LAME. (Those NRBQ songs were better.) Mr. Delicious, at that time, seemed more like a Saturday Night Live parody than an actual mascot. The fact that Rax never made it to my neck-of-the-woods (the MD/DC/VA area) is proof of that... ,

[@BenjiOrthopedic]

Rax started off well, and actually, during its pre-Mr. Delicious days, it thrived for a period of maybe 5 years. But then, they got greedy. They wanted to get bigger and better and just started trying anything and anything that they thought would result in knocking down their competitors. They could have done it if their management been competent, but after those 5 years, the doors were closed, and other restaurants replaced them. Ironically, they kind of came full circle as far as their identity crisis - and they still exist, barely, and their now-much-smaller menu actually looks great. Having spent plenty of time in your location, I can see why Rax was never there. I grew up in Oregon and Washington, where there were tons of middle-class families who loved restaurants like what Rax started out as - not that there aren't in the DC area of course but the culture is just way different there. Rax is definitely an example of what happens when incompetent corporate idiots get their hands on things. In this case though, I think a fifth grader could've told them that what they were doing was going to sink the ship.

[@StefferKatz]

I disagree. Even though it’s meh in comparison to other restaurants, the “rather Rax” jingle is simple and short. The NRBQ jingle is a full on song that goes on way too long and is too complicated. Nobody remembers an entire song. They remember “Where’s the Beef?” “Have it your way,” and “I’m lovin’ it.”

[@zackpumpkinhead8882]

They should've been more like Hooters and had tons of strippers in their ads. The tagline would be "Gosh, look at those RAX!"

[@TVHouseHistorian]

Correction: The interweb says that a voice actor named Gregg Berger was the voice of Mr. Delicious. In listening to him speak, I think this is the one.

[@usoftheart]

These are Grand Theft Auto radio spots in real life

[@double0nine73]

Which one?

[@jesseluciano1388]

@@double0nine73every ad in the video you 🧌 😂

[@isaiah4820]

I’ve watched this video a few times now, and I still enjoy it. This is definitely the best and most in-depth exploration into Rax and Mr. Delicious. I’m really impressed with all the research you did and how well you explained everything. I don’t think anyone else has talked to a former Rax executive and gotten their perspective. It’s great that you were able to vindicate Mr. Delicious. Keep up the great work! I’d love to see more videos like this about Rax.

[@lenpey]

Mr. D talked of himself in the 3rd person?

[@Frustratedartist2]

So basically, Mr. D was good advertisement, and history lied to us

[@Frustratedartist2]

I mean, this is a fast food chain for aging boring people who hates everyone and live a crappy life. Sounds 1000 times better than McDonalds

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

“McDonald’s then” or “McDonald’s now”?

[@caseyhafer2550]

Mr. Delicious sat on the floor of his cluttered studio apartment, staring at the calendar, surrounded, as always, by dog-eared copies of Penthouse Forum and Guns N Ammo. "Easter is coming," he thought to himself, permitting a sardonic chuckle. "The day she handed me the divorce papers. The day I discovered what a lying cheat she was." For she had been seeing that young punk for some time while Mr. D was breaking his back trying to make a living as a traveling aluminum siding salesman. There was an image of the Crucifixion above the crossed-out days. "What about the crown of thorns she has placed on MY head?" thought Mr. Delicious to himself. "Cheating, abandoning me, taking MY SON?" But with this thought he smirked. He had it all planned out. As he lovingly cleaned his .357 he thought of the minute, detailed perfections of his plan. First that little girly-man she took in, then her. Then he would rescue his son, take him to the Alaska cottage he had bought with the unpaid child support, and raise him according to the true principles of manhood. "Oh yes," he said. "The day of reckoning is at hand "

[@BenjiOrthopedic]

Rax obviously had very, very bad top management who was not overseeing their marketing department. Their food was very good - I went there many times in Oregon and Washington. I remember they had a drive-up window in some but not all locations. I don't remember them constantly changing their identity, it was always the roast beef and the salad bar. But by 1990 they for some reason were all closed. Wendy's was their biggest competitor. Wendy's had ditched the salad bars by then and Rax's key offering was their salad bar, and they had the potatoes as well, which Wendy's had - but Rax's were better. Rax was also trying to undermine Arby's, whose roast beef sandwiches were, and still are, absolutely mediocre (and like McDonalds burgers, they're made from a formula which includes additives as fillers.) Again, Rax's were better, they used better quality ingredients but didn't charge any more than those other places - likely why they were hemorrhaging financially. Rax also had paper menus for people to take home, which Wendy's obviously did not. Like they said, Rax was aiming to provide "posh fast food." I think the quality of it was great, but it's all about branding, and they belly-flopped very hard. I knew none of this in the 80s...and I do not remember Mr. Delicious. If I'd seen that, or my parents had, we would NOT have gone to Rax most likely. If Mr. Delicious was getting his organs altered, or his 'himmorhoids' (sic) removed, we would not have wanted to draw a parallel between anatomy and food. Despite all this...Rax exists. Looks like they finally figured out their identity crisis and ditched Mr. Delicious very long ago. I'm sure the food at the 8 surviving locations in Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky is probably very good. They missed the train though. On the west coast, Rax would absolutely not survive nowadays.

[@timschrage1694]

I worked in one of their Cincinnati branches back in the mid/late 80s. The upper management was abysmal. Were you to look up the concept of "screwing up a train wreck" in the Urban Dictionary, I wouldn't doubt all their photos would be there.

[@shawnthomas7404]

not all were closed

[@NaoPb]

I don't know much about American fastfood restaurants but from your comment, Rax sounds like a very reasonable place focussing on quality instead of extras. I would visit if I ever get the chance.

[@caseyhafer2550]

Rax is like Quizno's. Good food. Abysmal business practices.

[@victorconway444]

I think he was just exposed to the wrong generation. If RAX or some other company tried to pull this off in the 2010s I think internet culture would've been a lot more receptive.

[@scoopishere7881]

There’s flashing starting at 2:20 for around 10 seconds, just a warning.

[@mannhimself]

I watch 1 video about a restaurant I've never heard of in my life and now my feed is full of them.

[@ChamanConTenis]

Bro I don't even *live* in the US and fucking Mr. Delicious keeps popping on my feed like a drunk guest who don't wanna leave

[@ettazay5088]

What a hot mess. You can't be everything to everybody and that's what Rax tried to do. I'm waiting for Arby's to collapse. They started as a place for roast beef, now they try to serve everything.

[@godozo]

Not quite - they have a strong focus on meats. As long as they keep that they'll do okay.

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

To be fair most every fast food joint was trying to hard in that way: you had Wendy’s with its buffet complete with a pudding vat. Furthermore, you had Dan Cortese endorsing Burger King with full service and apparently a popcorn machine. And then there’s Duchess: they prided themselves on always-fresh-never-frozen meat items and an overall expansive menu(“even carrot cake!”)

[@powerwise234]

Mr. Delicious lives in the woods behind my house.

[@the_hiroman]

Mr Delicious totally looks like Daria's actual dad.

[@buckeyegeography2011]

A character you would see in Mission Hill

[@Chris_Troxler]

😂😂

[@cashnelson2306]

That mascot is hilarious dude no way that shit killed them

[@theuncletony98]

You just called him out the blue to discuss Rax? What a g

[@dbensdrawinvids8390]

I love that there's lore for Mr. Delicious.

[@qewr4231]

Mr. Delicious looks like a parody of Jack Benny. I think Mr. Delicious is based on Jack Benny. He looks and sounds like Jack Benny.

[@scottanderson2458]

Looks like Steve Allen too. Google 1950s/60s Steve Allen for images

[@gcell10]

Just found out Rax still exists

[@veiga1000]

The RAX commercials almost look like AI generated commercials..

[@chrislemaster2695]

Rax was an excellent place to eat and was great food at a great price? Wendy's International brought Rax after the 1997 bankruptcy and did nothing with it,.

[@Jhihmoac]

The company lacked any kind of "Direction"... They were constantly changing things... Change may be good, but _NOT_ every single time you turn around! It doesn't demonstrate any kind of stability in a business environment..."Mr. D" was just another dangerous "phase" Rax went through... A shame too, because he was before his time back then...If Rax had gotten its act together by now, they could've figured out how to properly utilize the character in an age where some get easily offended, and others go out of their way to start that aggravation up... "Mr. D" would be a "shoe in" today!

[@joshuabradshaw9120]

It’s like they were trying to be Arby’s, Sizzler and Wendy’s at the same time. Also all the dumb songs in their advertisements and Mr. Delicious’ corny antics seem like they would repel most people. Contrast that with companies like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Chipotle and other successful businesses. They figured out a profitable business strategy and stuck to that. Keeping your customers happy isn’t rocket science, it’s just common sense.

[@greenseaships]

I'm sorry but all these commercials feel like totally standard fare for a fast food chain in the 80s or even 90s. People talk and talk about ads killing Rax, but it's clear to me the only thing killing Rax was stuff we DIDN'T see, like competition from buffet restaurants, bad business models, bad business choices, etc.... As for Mr. D, it's clear what advertisers were going for and I get it. I've seen enough of him now to get the sarcasm and off beat humor. It's very niche, and maybe that's why most people didn't seem to get or appreciate it. He was kinda like Tom Bodett of Motel 6 if Bodett had actually been a Patrick Warburton character.

[@thematt523]

Most people don’t believe the ads were the problem near the end. They just REALLY didn’t help.

[@maestro-zq8gu]

To be honest, "You can eat here." isn't the most compelling argument for a would be customer.

[@bigfungus8667]

6:30 Given his attitude, I imagine there's just a pack of cigarettes and a flask of whiskey in Mr D's briefcase.

[@inlandindieP35]

I googled big Al Anderson of NRBQ and fortunately as of 03/29/2024 he is still among the living.

[@nickhahn5412]

Thank you for making this video. I’m gonna go to Rax in Harlan KY today. This is all your fault!

[@rungunstun]

3:52 the "Uncle Al" referred to is much likelier the company's later mascot, Uncle Alligator.

[@KBTime]

Good point -- someone told me that well after the video was posted. Not sure that either mascot -- real or imagined -- was effective lol

[@GokuMcDuck]

​@@KBTimeThere are some ads with the aligator around.

[@noahboat580]

Rax just reminds me of a buffet chain called Ryans: just a cheap American buffet place with an insane variety of food (and their salad bar of course), but that's an obscure buffet chain- Mr.D's voice just reminds me of that bored videogame VA that you would hear in the late 90s/early 2000s

[@thomasbuckley6175]

You can get "Mexican" - they should have been more specific...

[@stoneyboyd]

1:08 IS THAT LILY TOMLIN?

[@BillWillyBillyBill]

1:14 She is WAY too impressed! 😂

[@KBTime]

Truth... everything about her is bizarre

[@docsavage4921]

The days before every commercial was life insurance, pharmaceutical drugs, or aids viagra.

[@alannewman4818]

It all went down hill after Mr. D started talking about his vasectomy in the ads.

[@jaredst.martinbrown8009]

Loved this video. Always wondered what happened to Rax.

[@masterbondofox8982]

The one tag line I haven't heard from any of these Tax interviews and retrospectives: Rax, you said a bunfull.

[@reloaded-sk5mm]

Rax was the dream of mine in 1989. It never set foot in my home town of Lake Wales Florida.

[@rockamoo7997]

Guys star wars was already dying when Disney bought it. That's how all the comments about Mr delicious sound

[@ScottPalmer-mp1we]

I wonder if the salad bar was a money loser because the powers that be tried to make it have too much variety; therefore a lot of items would not be consumed enough and would have to be thrown out. When I and my friends would go to Rax in the early 80's (Marietta, Ohio), they had a salad bar but it had core items like eggs, cheddar cheese, olives, onions, etc. if I recall correctly. I think it had the right type and number of things. It also makes sense that they had trouble competing with the big salad bars of some of the buffet outfits.

[@Vision42_]

Mr. D had hemroid surgery is flat put hilarious 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@8ullfrog]

WHAT WAS IN THE BRIEFCASE, DEMONS?

[@KBTime]

I lol'd at this

[@DreFromMaine8472]

I only ever ate at a Rax once, in Florida in 1989. That was just before Mr. Delicious debuted. I don't remember what I had or if I liked it!

[@thejohhny2943]

Watched a commercial with hemorrhoid removal surgery sure makes one hungry for some angus beef yea?

[@kluafoz]

The legend of leviathan brought me here!

[@bigverybadtom]

I live in the Chicagoland area and have never heard of Rax restaurants.

[@sim61642]

Probably went down due to lawsuits pertaining to false advertising; that taco looks mighty big to fit in any pocket !

[@dennisxyz5784]

Is that Corporal Boyle from Gomer Pyle?

[@megalomotors]

Sure as S is! Isn't that right, Vince? Roy Stuart(1927-2005) RIP

[@matthewlane518]

We used to have a rax roastbeef but the only maskot i remember is a guy with a big head in a little car

[@Anthony-On-Drums]

@ 3:06 is that Candace Cameron? 😮

[@KBTime]

Looks very close but I'm thinking it's not... this ad seems to about the time "Full House" started and I don't think she looks like this in the first season. But you never know, I could be wrong!

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

Rax and Arby: The Sanctom of Spiky Shoulder Pads!

[@MiniatureMasterClass]

The cynical humorless monotone boomer Mr. Delicious along with the tagline "you can eat here" would 100% work in today's satire-loving, short-attention span social media market. Bill Welter was way too far ahead of his time and it made sense to hire a Wendy's ad guy since "Where's the Beef?" basically went viral in the 80s.

[@kevinroulette]

I loved Rax ! The super bar was awesome! Then went under and became Arby’s . Guess there is one in Ohio still .

[@alvincash3230]

There eere a few Rax here in Dayton Ohio - about an hour from where they started in Springfield. I really liked the food, but thought it was pricey for what you got. Sometimes I've wished they were still around.

[@kL-ol9tl]

mr D was great

[@lostone9700]

Romance novel? Hair weave? The west virginians were right.

[@PaulaJones-zu8jx]

i LOVE Mr. Delicious!!!

[@joanstehlik235]

Our local Rax had great food and especially the cool chocolate chip shakes made with whipped in ice cream hard shell dip.❤❤❤❤

[@nbaairdog3124]

I would love to hear Mr D explsin from out of his mouth what happened to Rax

[@reloaded-sk5mm]

I was sextatic see something new in town. Rax still has business opportunity in Lake wales florida where not much new is introduced since the Walmart super center. What a raxtacilous comerax

[@studogable]

I don't remember Mr. D, but these ads are hilarious. The target audience wouldn't get them, though.

[@mabs9503]

I like to think he got the vasectomy "just in case" and not because he--y'know--not because he *had somebody* but like because it's a hip cool thing and maybe one day he can use it.

[@Snardbafulator]

As if JR "Bob" Dobbs was a product spokes-clip art.

[@mcgibs]

3:00 good god, this commercial must have REALLY sucked for those with epilepsy. Also, Mr. D would have fit much better in the edgy nihilistic side of the 90s.

[@jakupsundoe6226]

Deep lore

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

What about for those of us who haven't had haemmorrhoid surgery? Can we have the sandwiches for 1.99, 2.99, etc?

[@keithleeuwen877]

Speaking of Bizarre acting characters....Why do people pay for preventative maintenance that they do not receive ? I was a field service tech for Cummins Allison 852 Feehanville Drive Mount Prospect, IL 60056... They make money counting equipment (not the diesel people) however this is what ya deal with, half assed refurbished parts and to top it of they told me not to do the preventative maintenance anymore at customer sites just run the vacuum a little bit and wipe down the machines. I was like "But that is gonna make the service call numbers go up and is >theft of service< WHY ? Well they wanted to keep selling new equipment every 3 years or so see ? With At Will I was fired,SAD... :( Country is in TROUBLE...NRBQ they were pretty good huh and so was Rax, :)

[@johnwinnard5589]

Dairy Queen DQ Chihuahua. Look it up.

[@koolademasta]

I will now lol

[@reloaded-sk5mm]

Brad neely comics can be a great source of ressuraxtion

[@BamFourThousand]

Id love to go to RAX to be honest

[@connorchops710]

I know it sounds funny but I really don’t see much difference in rax from Arby’s

[@jojojojo4332]

Hi, im European, and I do. The one has a marketing thats all about confort the other just had hemroids

[@jtotheroc]

Hemerroids/vasectomy.....why not both.

[@ghostface5559]

wow rax was in Indiana? who am i kidding its in ohio

[@Extremely-144]

Rax honestly, wasn’t that good in my opinion, Arby’s is sort of better they would just first and racks kind of copied off Arby’s

[@roblovicz1257]

LOL you can eat here...

[@arlo8392]

✅ *Promosm*

[@PhoenixDawnX77]

Rax seemed like a great restaurant for blue class people. I wonder why it failed. Just drop the salad bar.

[@dustpanandthebrush5293]

6 : 32 bit camp innit?

[@JackOpulski]

Mr D is the conflict between being relatable (about how depressing fast food is) and trying to sell (fast food), a cautionary tale about marketing through relatability, because the two are in conflict on the best of days, that's why pyramid schemes are illegal. I remember a few months back when I first learned of Mr D, I got irrationally angry, little did I know I was only angry at my inner Mr D

[@DianaRussia531]

OMG Mr Delicious is the spitting image of KZbin chef SAM THE COOKING GUY @samthecookingguy