OKRP serves up first new work for Chili’s

Chili’s gives a shout out to original menu items in a new spot by OKRP

Last July, we reported that Chicago agency O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul had won an assignment from Dallas-based Chili’s.

Well, the agency, and the baby back ribs, are back with a twist. OKRP has updated the classic Chili’s jingle — “I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…” — to include menu items that made the casual dining brand famous: Bigger Big Mouth Burgers, Bigger Baby Back Ribs and Full-on Fajitas.

Chili’s started as a burger shack in Dallas in 1975 and in the mid-1990s introduced its Big Mouth Burgers that stood apart for their size and juiciness. Baby Back Ribs first appeared on the menu in 1986, along with the iconic jingle, which was hailed as the song “Most Likely to Get Stuck in Your Head” by Ad Age in 2004.

Now the agency has flipped the brand upside down to let audiences know that ‘Chili’s Is Back, Baby’ as you can see in the spots below:

“We admit that as a brand, we lost our way a bit and needed to take a step back to successfully move forward, which for us, included going back to our roots and revisiting our iconic jingle that was once on everyone’s lips,” said Steve Provost, chief marketing and innovation officer of Chili’s.

He adds, “But we didn’t just want to revive the original jingle, we wanted to break out of the casual dining ‘sea-of-sameness’ rut and let our Guests know that Chili’s Is Back, Baby and better at what we’ve always done best – serving quality burgers, ribs and fajitas, washed down with a cold margarita.”

Also Read: OKRP busts out the tighty-whities for Gildan Underwear

According to OKRP’s Chief Creative Officer, Matt Reinhard, the agency knew they had to make some sort of twist that got audience’s attention.

“It was pretty apparent to us that we needed to create something brand new out of that classic Chili’s jingle,” he explains. “We combined in-your-face food photography with simple bold truths to tell a series of graphic lyric videos. We shot our food like fashion and sang our news through song. Why behave like everybody else when we can leverage a true brand equity with an authentic brand voice?”

The campaign includes seven :15 spots scheduled to air nationally across cable (Bravo, Discovery, E!, FX, HGTV, Food Network, etc) and the five major networks, (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, CW). The campaign will also have a heavy social media presence featuring :06 online videos and banners on Hulu, Roku, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and radio for Spotify, Pandora and terrestrial.

The campaign was scheduled to launch Monday October 2, but was held back by Chili’s management in response to the tragedy in Las Vegas. The Reel was asked by Chili’s not to report the story and we complied (unlike other journalists in town). It is on air as of today.

CREDITS:
Agency: O’Keefe, Reihard & Paul
   Founder/CCO: Matt Reinhard
   Creative Director: Jen Bills
   Copywriter: Dana Quercioli
   Designer: Rachel Warner
   Motion Designer: Trevor Rose
   Head of Production: Scott Mitchell
   Director of Production/Business Affairs: Katie Johnson
   Producer: Charlie Ferraye