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Denny's: Respect Its Authori-tie (To Publish)

Topic: AUTHORITY TO PUBLISH
Rating: Business Class

I want to hate Denny’s new campaign. It’s like that 16-year-old guy you knew who tried too hard to be cool. The look is off. The music is just…just…wrong. It makes me sicker than their country-fried steak would make a vegetarian. (Full disclosure: I'm a vegetarian.)

The ad blogs say that the "Denny’s AllNighter" promotion is an attempt to appeal to the "alt-rock" crowd. From 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the waitstaff trades its collared shirts and pressed pants for Ts and jeans, and alternative music cascades from the speakers for all stoners and truck drivers to enjoy. Of course, the website hosts a blog, gallery and featured bands section. There is also an "Adopted Bands" section; "adopted" bands get to eat at Denny’s for free when on tour. Grand slam! Guess who chooses which bands they "adopt"? You! Vote for your favorite blazer- and fedora-wearing troupe today! (Blazer and fedora purchased at Urban Outfitters, of course.)

As much as I wax sarcastic about the campaign, I can’t bring myself to hate it. Denny’s isn’t trying to become the new, late-night hotspot for suburban hipsters. It's appealing to the crowd it's always owned: high-school kids. The kids who think they’re part of "the scene" when really they’re just bopping their heads to the crappy stuff played on Clear Channel radio stations. Hey, I was there at one point. (Full disclosure: I listened to Incubus.)

Denny’s isn’t trying to be "hip"; it's trying to be popular. If it really wanted to tap into the Pitchfork-worshiping, Blogotheque-obsessed music aficionados, it would serve PBR and play Mount Eerie or Yeasayer or Bon Iver. And then I’d really be mad. How dare it try to capitalize on the indie scene by tacking on its corporation? That wouldn't be authentic. It wouldn't have the same authori-tie.

Denny’s: still for high-schoolers, not hipsters. Unless they want something else to complain about. And there’s always irony.

denny's, urban outfitters, clear channel, incubus, pitchfork, blogotheque, pbr, mount eerie, yeasayer, bon iver

Posted by: sleeping in my party dress at 1:38 PM on 20 June 2008

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July 10. 2008 5:41 PM

yeah they are alienating their fat Midwestern core audience and courting a skinny deathly looking subgenre.

slinkyredfoot

June 21. 2008 12:21 AM

Last year, while driving to Coachella with 2 artist management colleagues from the UK, we pulled off of I-10 in East LA to fill up on gas. One was hungry, pointed to the Denny's across the street and asked if we could grab a quick bite. "You ever been to Runny's?", I inquired invoking the well earned nickname we'd used since high school. "Why do you call it Runny's?" he says in his Yorkshire accent. "You'll see" I reply with a devilish grin as we walk across the parking lot. Had the promotion you outline above been in full swing as they "enjoyed" their first taste of chicken fried steak through a grimace(when Brits are repulsed by gravy laden fried food, well) I don't think the bands they represent would see these shores again. UK artists, with their national radio, national music mag, and one major TV show are rarely subjected to brand partnerships to get attention, unlike their US counterparts. I'm all for good partnerships between music and brand. Many have worked beautifully for both artist and brand. Apple itunes, Lexus/Alicia Keys, Rhapsody/Sara Barielles to name a few. The fine folks at Denny's hearts are in the right place but just because many bands are forced to subsist on Grand Slams while on the road, don't rub their faces in their Moon Over My Hammys. Let the bands, stoners, and truckers eat in peace.

macintyre

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