Worked at Rax as a manager while they were kicking this idea around. My GM and I said this was the dumbest idea ever but all they would say is, "We paid a lot of money to an advertising agency to come up with this so it has to be good." Showed us mock ups of him driving a car, walking with his briefcase, etc. All of them had his "catchy" phrase: 'You Can Eat Here!' It wasn't really the nail in the coffin as they were going down hill for awhile before that. They would have gone out of business with or without Mr. D. (Man, I haven't thought of that idiot for ages!) I would sit with my employees for hours almost every night with no customers. Then Hardee's bought them out, but that's another failure story.

I had never heard of Rax until today. 😨

Mr. D would work as an Adult Swim bumper. No idea how he was supposed to make anyone want fast food though.

Mr. D feels like he belongs in Daria

Looks like Mr. D belongs in the 1950s and sounds like he belongs in a 2015 Adult Swim sketch.

Mr D would be a hit today with Millennial self-depricating humor and Gen Z's post irony aesthetics. Truly ahead of its time.

I googled rax... As of 2024, Rax is based in Ironton, Ohio, and has only six franchisee-owned restaurants still in operation.... That's why i didn't realise Rax was gone. I live where the last few stores are based. The strange thing is i don't recall the Mr D commercials at all.

The then CEO of Rax was recently interviewed about this, and he said that this ad campaign was a big success. It did go viral, without the help of the internet. The problem is that Rax was already so deep in debt that Mr D ads just couldn't save the company. It was too little too late. Gen X humor? Gen X were mostly teenagers at this time. These ads 100% were trying to appeal to professional Baby Boomers. The ads did exactly what they were intended to do, it got people talking about the ads. Some people loved the ads, some hated them. Some loved the ads but acted like they were offended. BTW, the CEO said in his interview that he thought that the delicate surgery was for hemmroids, not a vasectomy.

I grew up in the 80s and I can verify people exploded because of meatball pockets

Just seeing the commercials makes me slightly nostalgic for the late 70s/early 80s when every restaurant seemed to have a solarium with plants, a salad bar, and faux Tiffany lamps.

Honestly if Mr. Delicious came out five years later he have been a big hit

Grew up in the 80’s - never heard of Rax. 🤷‍♂️

Mr D is the Andy Kaufman of ads: Ahead of his time.

My hometown has the only Rax in the state of Kentucky. It's such a staple here that I didn't realize it was part of a defunct chain until a year or so ago.

I feel like Mr Ds personality would convince me to eat there genuinely

Wow, when people said that Rax 'didn't know what it wanted to be', they weren't kidding. The story of how it was founded already had red flags considering they couldn't even settle on a NAME when they first opened.

With a name like that , they didn't even think of trying to compete with Hooters??

Mr. D needed his own show.

When I clicked on the link I was expecting to see some really bad commercials and you guys did not disappoint me.

Mr D walked so the Clear Eyes guy could run!

What a bizarre ad campaign.

I wonder if they figured that their target demographic was middle-aged, drunk, depressed men with a history of relationship problems, and Mr. D came to life as a result.

I ate at a Rax in what I think was the early 2000s. The building was a portal the 80s. I can’t confirm its existence with anyone because there’s a nearby restaurant called Racks, which is a hunting-themed Hooters.

Finally, a mascot I can really get behind.

Rax existed in the Tampa Bay area, where I grew up. I remember the mediocre salad bars but, most of all, those awful solariums built into the front of each restaurant. Because peninsular Florida is basically a hotter version of a rainforest for most of the year, those solariums were miserable places in the building to eat and the plexiglass on them quickly became scratched and faded in short order. Basically, a terrible idea.

It's a perfect Gen X commercial. The problem is in 1992 there was a recession and most of young Gen X'ers were out of work and/or short on money. So even if the commercial was a success, its target demographic didn't have any money. It's a marketing failure, not so much a failure of the commercial.

Ronald McDonalds soul is in the suitcase like Marcellus in Pulp Fiction

I miss Rax. I loved their BBC sandwich. One minor correction is that Uncle Alligator was around in the 80s.

I am born in 1984 and never heard of this company.

I can't believe one of the few remaining locations is in Chicagoland. Growing up here, I never had heard of this place until seeing one downstate many years ago

I feel like the challenge to marketing yourself as as a calmer, more mature place to eat fast food is that you're trying to thread the needle of people who both find other fast food venues too chaotic but haven't also selected to just take their food home, eat in their car, go to a public space or any other option. Couple that with trying to do that in the USoA, which has an extensive history and network of diners that do exactly that already and you're trying to pass a VERY tight market.

Watching this at my local Rax rn

Mr. delicious would make the perfect spokesperson for what Mcdonalds has become now. Bland and boring... kinda like it. ahead of its time

Rax was so much better than Arby’s. I still miss their milkshakes.

Mr. D is awesome. We just weren't ready for him yet.

That's too bad. Their roast beef sandwich was good. My favorite though was the Philly cheese steak. They should have stuck with what they were best at

An ad campaign ahead of it's time. It was the only fast food place you could get a baked potato instead of fries

Just found your channel, I love stuff like this, I just subbed and turned on notifications. 🙏

I’m dying at the “There ain’t no Mo” campaign 😂

Mr. D seems like a pervy.

“THERE AIN’T NO MO!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Rax was like an upper-middle class Arby’s. And unsurprisingly it went the way of America’s middle class.

Did that sign at the 6:09 mark really say starting pay was $16 an hour? I know what I see, but I find it so hard to believe that a fast food place payed that much back then. What fast food even pays that these days? They sure don’t where I live, anyway. I’ve seen some that pay above minimum wage, maybe $14 an hour, but $16 is crazy. Especially for when this took place. That’s insane.

We have one of the Rax here in Lancaster, Ohio. I wasn't aware of how few there were. Used to see them more than Arby's when I was a kid.

I enjoyed Rax. I thought their "Stuffa-you-face" pasta promotion was pretty funny, I'm also Italian!

Mr D reminds me of duckman as a human without the pizzazz or charm

Mr. D reminds me of the straight talk mascot years ahead of his time

TBH I kinda like the ads.

First heard about this from a Vlog Brothers video a few years ago. Great story!

I grew up in the 80s. I don’t remember Rax. There were no Rax commercials nor were any Rax restaurants in my area. Strange.

So my childhood Wendys was previously an Rax, guessing from how it was built with that same glass roof in the front. It was our teen hang out spot when it rained, and we had to wait to walk home. Also seeing that drive thru menu was another confirmation and him saying they bought the company completed the mystery full circle. Thanks !!

Great video. Please make more.

Rax! We have one of the last one's here in Joliet IL

LMAO holy shit. Wow. I gotta say that today is the first time that I ever heard of Rax in my life. I guess I can see why. I was a very young child in the early 90s, which is where the narrator says that the company became obscure. That Mr. D character reminds me of something you would have seen as an adult cartoon on Comedy Central in the 90s.

Mr. D. was way ahead of his time.

Mr D did not appeal to GenX because we all had a most hated teacher just like Mr. D. who called people names and kicked us out of class only to get pissed off when we tried to leave when he told us to.

I saw another video on this topic..........there were other forces behind the scenes working against Rax.

Wow. I wished I knew about this place. The commercials are awesome.

never, ever heard of Rax. The company failed because of those insane menu items they kept adding. No single commercial did them in. The food quality must have been horrible with 100 different entrees of all type of cuisine.

Ahead of its time , it would be gold today!!

2:35 That's an old Shoney's building! Now *there's* a restaurant that I'm nostalgic for. Their french toast sticks were too good!

I’d take any of these commercials over the crap they put out today. I’d love Rax back too!

The chain was about 30 years too early with the depressed dinner concept. Fortunately Boston Market carried all the weight.

I'm not a roast beef person at all,but the whole Mr. Delicious thing is my kind of advertising! I'd totally go there,just because of the ads. I've never heard of the company until this video popped up in my recommendations

0:31 I used to work at Rax restaurant on the turnpike in Vickery Ohio many years ago. They tore down the building where the Rax restaurant used to be. And it’s completely changed since then. They have many different restaurants there now.

I will always be a Mr. Delicious fan.

There were 2 in my area back in the day. The one in my hometown of Marietta, OH closed in 2007. The one down the road in Parkersburg, WV closed in 2013. I really liked Rax. I thought the salad bars were great. You are right, they were trying to be everything.

Man Rax takes me back. They had one at Sunrise Mall here in Northern California back in the day. Which means I’m old af.

the billy squier rock me tonight of fast food commercials no coming back from this🤣

Our RAX had an incredible salad bar, with pasta, and Mexican as well. Became one of our favorites. At the time, I'd no idea they were a roast beef sandwich place.

I never heard of Rax here in the NYC area……never saw a commercial…..nothing…

I live near one of the last Rax locations in Joliet, IL. Going there is like going into a time warp. I’m not a fan of the food, but love the bizarre history.

Grew up in Ohio. Rax was one of my favorite places to go. I miss it (it's not around where I live in Ohio anymore) but I don't even remember the commercials.

I definitely miss the old, simple Rax Roast Beef sandwich and their excellent fries. Their roast beef was every bit as good as Arby's and all they had to do was not "complicate" the menu. I'll never understand the "suits" who come in to a successful fast food restaurant then, wreck it by adding garbage nobody asked for or wanted and change the perfect foods that do not need changing...WENDY'S! IM LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU! Wendy's was once my favorite American Burger place. They had the best, most tastiest beef patties and THE BEST FRENCH FRIES IN THE BUSINESS. That's right, I said it, Wendy's Fries were even better than McDonald's fries and that's saying something even if most people disagree. As long as Dave Thomas was around Wendy's succeeded and thrived in a most competitive marketplace because of the simplicity and outstanding quality of their menu and Wendy's ORIGINAL French Fries were as important as their awesome burgers. After Dave passed away some jackass in a suit decided they should change the Fries, probably to save a few pennies and thus began the slow, steady decline and ruination of my favorite Burger Place. Yes, the Fries are that important because together with the beef patties & Frosty they created their own unique "Flavor Profile". As soon as you change one of those items you change the entire Flavor Profile and not for the better. And now Wendy's is doing breakfast.....and I don't give a ding-dang-doodly darn about that garbage. I'm from the 1970s, I'm fit, strong & healthful and I don't eat breakfast and I WANT MY SQUARE BURGER & MY ORIGINAL FRIES BACK! So, thanks for nothing, Wendy's suits. You've ruined an American icon & destroyed the work & passion of Dave Thomas who gave us quality burgers & Fries & the Frosty. May your greed and lack of vision lead you where you deserve to be....jerks.

I grew up in Springfield Ohio in the 80s. We couldn't afford to eat out much, but Rax was one of our favorite places!

I went to the one in Muncie, IN when I was growing up. Loved the food, especially the roast beef sandwiches. There was something different that Arby's didn't have. I always wondered what happened to them, this explains why they left.

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 HUH ? Country is in TROUBLE... Roast Beef, highly expensive these days with Bidenomics in full force. SAD SAD SAD to quote The Rolling Stones that are still going on mind you. Thanks for the video !

Never even heard of Rax

great video man, keep are good work

I used to really like Rax and was sad when they all went away. 20+ years later I learn that there are still a handful of locations, and one of them is somewhat near a travel route I'll be taking later. I was so happy to finally get a Bacon, Beef, & Cheddar after all this time. I've been fortunate enough to go back a second time.

Never actually went inside, but surprisingly enough the Rax in Joliet is still around on Jefferson St just a couple blocks west of Larkin

The way she exploded!! 🤣

Had one in Arkansas but I didn't know what their menu was because I don't remember ever seeing a commercial for them

I remember the reptile mascot. Though I remember him from the late 80’s……

That pic of the rax restaurant you showed is the rax in my home town still open to this day

Blud got recommended that video from the vlogbrothers and decided to go into even MORE detail.

I'm glad I'm not old enough to remember those ads although I don't think there ever was Rax in my area. Then again Sonic Drive-In has always advertised here for a very long time even before we ever had a sonic drive-in so there are some times where we see ads for things that aren't even here which is really annoying

I remember eating at Rax when I was a kid in the mid eighties. Fantastic roast beef sandwiches, it’s too bad that they had a severe case of identity crisis that led to its demise. The voice actor for Mr. Delicious also voiced Grimlock in Transformers and Jecht from Final Fantasy 10.

wow. just wow.

We had a Rax in town, & it disappeared when i was 8 or so. They had seasoned curly fries ( the kind Arby's has) and that's all i remember of them.

That's the first time I've ever heard of Rax and I'd love to try eating there at some point.

This chain didn't exist in my region but I love Mr. Delicious and these ads. They definitely would have gotten me to eat there.

I never heard of Rax, and was a teen in the 80s.

It feels like I've seen this exact video before.

So basically Rax went from being Arby's to Golden Corral 😂

I didn't remember the salad bar. That explains how we were there at all. I only had fast food like twice a year growing up with a food co-op mom. It was so messed-up she had to put zucchini in all our birthday cakes. The same 💩 every year.

All I remember about Rax was their jingle for a while, “I’d rather Rax, wouldn’t you?”

Rax never operated in my area.

We had a Rax just up the street from my house in North Chicago that had the expanded salad bar, dessert bar, and potato bar. It was a family favorite for weekends. They had all kinds of exotic things like heart of palm and capers in the frickin' 70s! t's still the standard by which I measure the quality of a salad bar today. RIP Rax, you will always have a special place in my heart.

"You can eat here" WOW