The Top 14 Fast Food Commercials That Totally Flopped

Fast food commercials are some of the funniest — and weirdest — commercials out there. Fast food ads are a booming industry, with restaurants spending a total of $5 billion on ad campaigns in 2019 alone (via Rudd Center). Fast food marketing is largely geared towards children and teens since more than one in every three kids consumes fast food each day in the United States.

Many fast food chains use mascots or quirky humor to not only appeal to youth but also make their food memorable and associated with laughs and good times. But just like a cringey stand-up comedy routine, sometimes you can try so hard to be funny, that it turns out to be not funny at all. Plus, humor relies heavily on the audience, and oftentimes it can just miss the mark. We've rounded up some of the best of the worst fast food commercials, including dancing creatures singing way off-key, the creepiest clown ads, and a mascot that actually inspired a crime in real life. 

If you have ever seen this Quizno's commercial, it likely still haunts your dreams. In fact, one Reddit user commented that this ad gave them nightmares as a kid, and another cited the commercial as the reason they never went to Quizno's Subs again. The Reddit user that started the thread said that Quizno's was taking after Burger King and trying to use unconventional marketing techniques that were popular at that time to capture viewer attention. The TV ad was Quizno's attempt at capitalizing on an internet meme — the spongmonkeys. The commercial was a rip-off of the original spongmonkey online video created by Joel Veitch in 2003, entitled "We Like The Moon." 

These creepy creatures look like hairy potatoes with wonky eyes wearing strange hats. In Quizno's version, they play guitar and sing — or rather, screech — extremely off-key: "We love the subs!!! Coz they are good to us!!" The song doesn't stop there, which makes you wonder — why? They scream that the subs are tasty, warm, crunchy, and toasted, then randomly end with, "They got a pepper bar!" The commercial sure caught people's attention, but it's something we all wish we could erase from our brains.

Who is the Noid? A claymation mascot created in 1987 for Domino's Pizza, the Noid was a giggly, buck-toothed character wearing a rabbit costume that was out to ruin your pizza — unless you ordered from Domino's. Apparently, they were the only pizza company around that was "Noid-proof," as per Fast Company. The only way you can successfully "avoid the Noid" is by ordering from Domino's Pizza, according to the ad campaign. But where did he come from and why does he obsess over blocking all pizza delivery orders? This is perhaps a question that will never get an answer. 

Unfortunately, the Noid only took off because the wily mascot actually inspired a true crime. In 1989, a man with the last name Noid held two employees at a Domino's Pizza in Georgia hostage at gunpoint. Sadly, the human Noid was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and truly believed that the Noid campaign was created to single him out. The employees managed to escape, but Noid was placed in a mental institution and died by suicide shortly after. Understandably, the claymation Noid retired after the incident. 

It's no secret that people hate clowns. In fact, according to a 2016 poll by Vox, about 42% of Americans are afraid of clowns. Burger King took this idea and ran with it, launching an ad campaign to spite their top competitor, McDonald's. In October 2017, they released a horror film-themed ad, complete with spooky music. 

The commercial begins with a teen riding his bike along a dark street at night, only to find he's being followed by a scary clown that looks remarkably similar to Ronald McDonald. Scared, the kid bikes faster and faster, and is bombarded with many more creepy clowns of all shapes and sizes. Eventually, he bikes to Burger King, where he comes face-to-face with the terrifying Ronald McDonald clown that says, "I want my Whopper." The ad was most certainly a dig at McDonald's, but it was also a promotion during Halloween deemed "Scary Clown Night," where all participants that entered a Burger King on Halloween night dressed as a clown would receive a free Whopper burger. With almost half of America scared of clowns, it sounds like many people will be avoiding Burger King this time of year.

Have you witnessed the first Ronald McDonald mascot from McDonald's? This guy is a bit awkward and might even creep out the 58% of the population that isn't already fearful of clowns. The earliest version of Ronald McDonald in the first ever McDonald's commercial featured Willard Scott wearing a tray full of a complete McDonald's meal as a hat — and one as a belt. And his clown nose was actually a small McDonald's cup. He is also donning a yellow and red striped clown suit, strange straw-like hair, and a huge, chilling red clown grin. 

In the commercial, when this vintage Ronald is talking to the kids in the audience, he says, "I know we're going to be friends too, 'cause I like to do everything boys and girls like to do." We're not quite sure what that means, nor do we want to know. He then smiles way too long at the camera, with his harrowing grin and squeaky clown horn. At least the recent Ronald mascot has evolved since this version — according to The Consumerist, the original Ronald McDonald clown "looks like a serial killer".

"The Pizza Head Show" stars none other than Pizza Head, a funny-looking slice of pizza that has pepperonis for eyes, black olives for pupils, a cube of green pepper for a nose, and slivers of small red peppers for lips. Pizza Head's high-pitched geeky voice is pretty iconic, too. The Pizza Head commercials were aired from 1993 to 1997 (via Stimulant). The series of ads followed Pizza Head through many daring adventures and mishaps, which usually don't end well for him, no thanks to his nemesis: Steve the pizza cutter. While the commercials were creative and unforgettable, the dark undertones and sad story endings didn't take off as a big fan favorite for kids. They were both entertaining and disturbing. Pizza Head was constantly being smashed, stepped on, abused, lied to, and gas-lighted. Poor guy.

While memorable, the Pizza Head show got a lot of flack for not being original and being greatly influenced by "The Mr. Bill Show" from "Saturday Night Live." In fact, according to one Reddit user: "This is such a Mr. Bill rip-off, I'm surprised it was even legal."  

While some fast food commercials go for sex appeal or humor, this ad series is neither. This Carl's Jr. campaign was pretty simple: Each commercial featured an average guy eating a burger and fries. But it is so much more than that. The burger is messy, it's falling apart, sauces are dripping out, and the guy is really going for it. The only audio in the whole commercial is "Burgers, fries, and a coke. Don't bother me, I'm eating." And of course, the crunching, slurping, and chomping sounds of the man eating, along with the unflattering noises of him licking his fingers. It's obvious Carl's Jr. was trying to highlight how delicious their food is — however, not everyone enjoys watching people eat, especially with stomach-churning background noise.

This ad slogan did not have the big success that Carl's Jr. was hoping for, and instead, quickly turned into an internet meme. It was even spoofed in the 2006 film "Idiocracy" with the line, "Carl's Jr. F*** you! I'm eating" (via Reddit). The movie is a sci-fi comedy about a dystopian society run by corporations and full of people who have devolved intelligence due to technology. Not a good look for Carl's Jr. This may be why only one of the many commercials that were made are still available for viewing on YouTube — it seems like Carl's Jr. didn't want the ads available to the public to make memes out of.

If you haven't heard of Rax, be grateful. Rax was a fast food joint that focused on selling roast beef sandwiches, although they branched out into a variety of other food options over the years to try to boost sales. Rax's spokesman Mr. Delicious was not only boring but downright weird. There was something unsettling about the things he said and the way he said them, to the extent that Mr. Delicious truly gave off true serial killer vibes — or at the very least, he was a pervert. 

In the Rax commercials, Mr. Delicious would go off on monologues, saying, "That vacation he took to Bora Bora with those two young ... friends. Well, that left Mr. Delicious feeling empty and unfulfilled," and, "Mr. Delicious just had some rather delicate surgery. If there's no change, he doesn't have to squirm so much to put it back in his pocket." And maybe the most frightening over-share: "Mr. Delicious always leaves Rax with a few bucks left. That's just grand because his analyst charges a lot to keep Mr. D's hostility all locked up" (via Medium). It's unclear who Rax's target audience is for these ads, but one thing is for sure: No one wants to be sharing a meal with anyone who can relate to Mr. Delicious. Shortly after the Mr. Delicious campaign launched, Rax declared bankruptcy.

This fast food ad campaign flopped not because it was gross or scary — it was just simply boring. In 1985, Burger King launched a whole ad series based on Herb, a "nerd" who didn't have any interesting or endearing qualities, besides the fact that he had never eaten a Whopper before. Burger King started with newspaper ads that read, "It's not too late, Herb," and, "What are you waiting for, Herb?" Then, they released a series of dull commercials with people who knew Herb, describing who he was, which was underwhelming to say the least. 

Burger King tried to liven things up with a special offer, allowing anyone who said "I'm not Herb" at checkout to get a burger for only 99 cents. It worked momentarily, with store sales increasing by 10% (via Mental Floss). The commercials were so bad that Burger King resorted to bribery to make their $40 million ad campaign investment worth it. In 1986, America finally got to meet Herb, first via television, then in real life. Anyone who spotted Herb in a Burger King restaurant and introduced themselves to him would get $5,000. Some local fast food joints added more, with reports of individuals receiving up to $10,000. Shortly after, Herb disappeared, and many people did not even notice. 

In 2010, an Australian branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) released a controversial commercial that received a lot of criticism in the U.S. It featured a white Australian man watching a live cricket game in the stands, surrounded by celebrating Caribbean fans who are Black. The Australian man says, "Need a tip when you're stuck in an awkward situation?" He holds up a bucket of KFC chicken and the crowd goes quiet, taking pieces out to eat. The man sighs: "Too easy."

Even though the ad was only intended for an Australian audience, it got a lot of backlash in America, with many people saying it was an obvious and offensive nod to the racist stereotypes of Black people. KFC Australia replied that the ad was a "light-hearted reference to the West Indian cricket team" that had been "misinterpreted by a segment of people in the U.S." according to The Guardian. Either way, the damage had been done. 

It's bad enough that we know that there is a Jack in the Box bobblehead man that exists out there in the world. But this commercial (one of the creepiest fast food ads of all time) brought to light that there are more — Jack has family members — "my favorite Philly cousins" as Jack affectionately refers to them. The ad shows Jack sitting down for dinner with his cousin Joey and little Joey Junior, both also sporting bobbleheads, with the addition of mullets and sports jerseys. Oddly, Joey's wife is a human with no abnormal head, although she also has a stylish blond mullet and stereotypical East coast accent to match her family.

This odd commercial was made to highlight Jack in the Box's release of the Sourdough Philly Cheesesteak Melts. Sure enough, near the end of the ad, Joey exclaims, "I'm bustin' your chops, the cheesesteak's good," after taking a bite of the sandwiches Jack brought over.

If you've never seen this Little Baby's Ice Cream commercial, you might want to skip it — it's the things nightmares are made of. It seems like it came straight out of a horror film, as it starts off with a close-up of a big-eyed, seemingly bald human that is completely covered in white goo, which we later assume is Little Baby's Ice Cream. With frightening jewelry box music twinkling in the background, a voice says, "There's good reason for my glistening skin, and how I shine, and how my pores are so clean and clear. I eat Little Baby's Ice Cream. It keeps me young." All the while, the human is scooping ice cream off its head with a spoon and grotesquely eating it.

The ad goes on to say that if you eat this ice cream, you will love your job and your life. You will wink, nod, hug, and high-five others. It ends with the strange tagline: "Ice cream is a feeling." According to Eater Philadelphia, the ice cream closed up shop in 2019, which is not surprising, considering this commercial probably did not make anyone want to eat Little Baby's Ice Cream. 

In 1987, Wendy's released a bizarre commercial with a succession of different people pulling a tiny piece of meat off of a giant hamburger with the jingle "Give a little nibble" playing in the background. In the ad, Wendy's asks you to taste the meat before you eat any hamburger, then follows the request with odd questions like, "Is it dry and chewy? Or hot and juicy?" We then witness more people sampling bits of burger, biking or driving up to a huge patty and grabbing a chunk off of it, before the commercial ends with a terrible closing catchphrase: "The more you nibble others, the more you'll love Wendy's."

Even the YouTube description of this commercial calls it a "flop," and it only aired for seven weeks. After that, it was discontinued and the ad agency that created it was fired, and Wendy's was once again on the hunt for a compelling commercial idea.

Burger King has a history of creepy, bizarre commercials, including this weird one. The "Wake up with the King" ad was an awkward attempt at humor featuring a grown man waking up in his bed to find the Burger King mascot — an adult wearing a peculiar mask — sitting right next to him. After a long moment of extremely uncomfortable silence, the King pulls out a new Burger King menu item, the double croissan'wich, and the man's mood changes from confused to happy in an instant.

The commercial continues on with the cringe factor by saying, "Egg and meat and cheese ... and meat and cheese. That's right." The energy in the bed shifts as the man and the King laugh, smile, and playfully joke around with each other, but then they accidentally hold hands and pull away quickly, obviously embarrassed. The ad is honestly almost unbearable to watch. Not only is it commonly called out for being extremely creepy, but it also didn't boost Burger King's sales. This ad came out in 2004, and between 2003 – 2008, Burger King's market shares fell, with many pointing to their disturbing and unsuccessful advertising campaign as the offender.

The McDonald's Mac tonight commercial is an obvious effort to appeal to adults who love piano and jazz music. It featured a cartoon moon wearing black Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and a black tuxedo playing the piano and singing on top of a large hamburger. The song that he sings is a rip-off of Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," which kept the same music but changed the lyrics to "When the clock strikes, half past six babe, time to head for golden lights. It's a good time, for a great taste. Dinner at McDonald's: It's Mac Tonight!"

This commercial was actually popular with the masses, but not so much for the son of Bobby Darin, who ended up suing McDonald's for the blatant plagiarism, according to Orlando Sentinel. The ad was soon after taken off the air and now McDonald's Mac Tonight only remains alive through memorabilia collectors.

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