Friendly’s slogans leave a lot to be desired

A list of slogans from Friendly’s restaurants from over the years:

• "You're in for a nice surprise" (1979–1982)
• "There's no place like home" (1985–1989)
• "Oh, that looks good!" (2010–2013)
• "High 5, it's Friendly's!" (2011-2012)
• "Oh yeah!" (2012-2013)
• "Where ice cream makes the meal" (current)

Damn. That is not a good list.

“You’re in for a nice surprise.” Not exactly encouraging. “You thought this meal was going to suck, but really, it’s won’t. You’ll be surprised.”

“Oh, that looks good!” Again, not a confident declaration. More of a reversal of expectations. “You think your cheeseburger will look like a greasy sponge, but no, it actually looks like a cheeseburger!”  

“Oh yeah!” They paid someone to come up with that slogan? I’m no even sure how you would include this in ad copy.

“There’s no place like home.” I hope the company didn’t hire an advertising agency to come up with a phrase that existed long before The Wizard of Oz made millions from it. “Yes, it’s a cliché. It may be one of the greatest clichés of all time, and I don’t mean great in a good way. But it worked for the girl with the red slippers, so maybe it will work for us.”

No wonder the company had to be rescued from bankruptcy.