Before Jodie Sweetin uttered her “how rude” catch phrase on Full House, she was shoveling shrimp into her mouth in a commercial for Sizzler.
Over 35 years after Sweetin made her acting debut in the ad for the family steakhouse, she returns in a new campaign for the regional restaurant. In “Still as Great as Ever,” Sweetin is seen in the original spot, then the camera pans out to show Sweetin today in a Sizzler, reminiscing with viewers on her experience creating the original 1987 TV spot, while comically reminding them of how great both Sizzler and her acting career continue to be in 2023.
Sweetin highlights the family-favorite steakhouse chain’s cooked-to-order steaks and signature unlimited salad bar, but also invokes sentimental memories of childhood celebrations (unlimited soft serve ice cream) for longtime Sizzler fans while appealing to new customers to excite them about what the steakhouse has to offer these days. All the while, Sweetin is poking fun at herself, letting people know that she’s still around and acting after her childhood stardom.
The steakhouse, which has been around since 1958, has offered up family-friendly meals and prices for generations of diners, and the campaign, by newly hired agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address, wanted to lean in on nostalgia while essentially reintroducing the brand to the general public.
“We were the original value family steakhouse, and we still are, and that’s really what we want to get out of it. We’re still around, and we’re still probably the best answer for when everyone’s arguing about what to do for dinner,” Sasha Shennikov, marketing director at Sizzler, told Adweek.
Choosing Mischief
Sizzler isn’t a national chain, so the pairing of the regional restaurant, which is mostly in the western U.S., with a breakthrough creative shop like Mischief states that Sizzler wants to reestablish itself.
“We are in a big competitive space with a lot of restaurants and a lot of noise, so for us, it’s a no brainer that they’re a partner for us to work with on this because of their breakthrough work,” said Shennikov.
Mischief knew right after meeting the Sizzler team that it would be a good fit.
“These guys were very interested in long-term brand building. And that’s something we’re very excited about, creating a larger platform where we can spike with little hits where we insert ourselves into culture over long, sustained periods of time,” Kevin Mulroy, partner and executive creative director at Mischief, told Adweek.
Sizzler has worked with numerous agencies throughout its existence, including Kovell Fuller, Ground Zero and Charlton Marketing, but this is the first big campaign since the chain essentially started a rebirth of sorts under president Chris Perkins, who came aboard in 2020.
The brand needed an overhaul. Though it was a popular place for families and business people through the ’70s and ’80s, Sizzler declared bankruptcy in 1996, closing 130 stories and laying off thousands. Though it didn’t go out of business, it did restructure and is still in turnaround mode, especially following the pandemic.
“Right now the brand is stronger than ever. We’re kicking off a remodel program that going to continue over the next few years as we do the big relaunch. And we changed our promotional products to be focused on seasonality,” said Shennikov.
Sizzler hired agency Journey Further in 2022 to modernize and improve its media performance, and now Mischief has been brought in to up the creative game, which kicks off with Sweetin’s ad and will expand with a full-blown campaign soon.
“We’re really excited to show people what we have, and then to show the bigger, broader campaign down the road,” said Mulroy.
Sweetin the deal
Mischief had access to the advertising archives of Sizzler and happened upon the Sweetin ad. It was one of many produced by the chain in the ’80s to appeal to families and business people looking for an affordable lunch.
The agency took a chance by pitching the idea before it knew it could get her for the campaign. It was one of many ideas brought to the table, but it played into being both a nostalgia play for the many people who grew up going to Sizzler, and the need to show that the chain has evolved since it was founded by Del and Helen Johnson in Culver City, Calif. 65 years ago, when the original price of a Sizzler steak was 99 cents.
“When we started reaching out [to Sweetin], she loved the script. It was very near and dear to her heart. She had such an incredible experience, especially as a young kid just starting out, getting into acting,” said Mulroy, adding that working with Sweetin was a pleasure.
Shennikov wanted a nostalgia play as well, since the first restaurant she went to after her parents moved her from Russia was Sizzler.
“What made everyone go there as kids is still true about Sizzler today, we just have to remind everyone, because now they have kids,” said Shennikov.
The Sizzler and Mischief teams hope the Sweetin ad and the upcoming campaign will bring a new generation to the chain to make new memories with their families over steak, a salad bar and unlimited soft serve ice cream.
The campaign will go out over connected TV and social, and having a big digital presence is fairly new for Sizzler.
“A big part of all the work that we presented was really built for earned media. We try to bake in that PR rocket fuel to any idea that we that we bring to the table … and we feel like this is really strong in that regard,” said Mulroy.
While you won’t hear Sweetin uttering her catch phrase from her Full House days—“we’re not allowed to say her catchphrase without a lot of lawyers getting involved,” said Mulroy—Sweetin does recreate her shrimp eating prowess in one of the spots, which should make Sizzler and Sweetin fans happy.
