Denny’s Restaurants has been around for…well…for a long time. Long as I can remember, anyway. And they’ve been largely interchangeable, between their competition. I mean, can you really tell me how Denny’s differs from iHOP, Shoneys, or any of the other places that cater to big appetites with small wallets? I can’t. But Denny’s may have found a way to cut through the clutter and make a name for themselves. And it involves, of all things, television.

Television…it’s sooooo 90′s. Or 80′s. Lord knows, it’s not “now,” or “hip” or “happening.” The flavor of the month for that would be Twitter, or one of the other social networking phenoms. So it’s unusual in this day and age to see an established but sleepy brand do something that can rise above the video noise and come up with a campaign that is, well…blogworthy. But Denny’s did it.

Their new commercial features a Joe Average guy who looks like he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty for a living, coincidentally somebody that actually enjoys eating enough food to qualify as not only breakfast, but ballast. He has that same sort of no-nonsense, matter-of-fact delivery that marks him as a stereotypical “solid Midwestern” type. Think Patrick “Puddy” Warburton, without the fame.

What gets your attention, though, is some of the best writing I’ve seen in a commercial since Bartles & Jaymes started the wine cooler craze. They’ve created a character that at once comes off as both endearingly earnest and charmingly a little thick. He opines about frappaccinos and mochaccinos as foodstuffs not fit for a decent breakfast.

Denny’s has correctly identified their competition for the breakfast market not restaurants like iHOP, but coffee shops like Starbucks. You see, by going after the coffee crowd, they can increase their market share for breakfasts by acquiring new customers, rather than fighting their fellow restaurants for the same bunch that already brunches. They establish this proposition with a memorable one-liner, “Coffee and milk foam is NOT a meal!” But it gets better. The payoff at the end of the spot is the best one-liner that ranks right up there with Bartles & Jaymes best:

“Mr. Chino, I’m not a fan of your beverages, but I sure do love your pants.”

With the kind of responses they are getting from the public, I’d be surprised if the Denny’s guy doesn’t join spokesmodels like my personal fave, the Glade Lady, in a long-running series of spots. I’d also be surprised if Denny’s market share and in-store sales doesn’t go through the roof.

No thanks to Mr. Chino, and his beverage empire.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 7:01 pm and is filed under advertising, marketing, media.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.