I remember Roy Rogers as having been a big deal when I was a kid. These days, it seems to only exist at New Jersey Turnpike rest stops. But I was at a New Jersey Turnpike rest stop this afternoon driving back home from a Slate company retreat in the Catskills where I saw this bit of product advertising that I think is unlikely to turn the company’s fortunes around.
What is wrong with this ad? So many things:
1. “Chorizo sausage” is redundent. “Chorizo” is the name of a kind of sausage. In fact, it’s the name of two different kinds of sausage: dried spanish chorizo and the better known soft Mexican chorizo.
2. This is a breakfast burrito or possibly a breakfast taco, not a breakfast wrap (whatever that is).
3. There’s nothing especially fun about saying “chorizo.” This is 2013. Is this really such an exotic word?
4. The beats here are terrible. “Good to say, better to eat” might work or “fun to say, more fun to eat.”
5. But you have to mind your use/mention distinction! “Chorizo” is a word that’s fun to say, chorizo is a sausage that’s fun to eat.
6. The potatoes should be inside the tortilla. This isn’t rocket science.
Back in 1990 there were 648 Roy Rogers locations operating in the United States. Today it’s down to 50. And with new products and innovative marketing like this, I don’t think they’re going to be getting back up to that high water mark any time soon.
