It’s truthful to say that anybody who remembers the video for Loverboy’s smash single “Working for the Weekend” was most likely round for the early days of MTV, when the group was reworked into superstars in a single day due to heavy rotation on the culture-shifting new cultural cable channel. Powered by that single and others, the red-clad, headbanded group’s “Get Fortunate” album went quadruple platinum within the U.S., and the band’s scorching streak continued for 2 extra multiplatinum albums and hits like “Lovin’ Each Minute of It” and “Sizzling Ladies in Love” earlier than tailing off towards the top of the last decade.
But Loverboy’s hits stay rock-radio staples, so when Loverboy supervisor Jonathan Wolfson acquired the decision from Sony Music Publishing artistic James Armstrong that IHOP wished to make use of their tune “Working for the Weekend” to advertise their new weekday $6 Home Faves menu, he instantly took the request to the band.
“I used to be slightly nervous about doing a marketing campaign for a restaurant, however it’s one among my favorites,” admits Loverboy singer and co-founder Mike Reno. “Who doesn’t like pancakes, proper?”
Guitarist Paul Dean recollects hitting IHOPs a number of instances whereas the band was touring with Sammy Hagar again within the day. “It’s only a pure factor for us,” he says. “They’re in every single place and so are we. When the provide got here by way of, I simply thought, ‘good.’”
This isn’t the primary time Loverboy songs have been utilized in nationwide campaigns. “Working for the Weekend” was beforehand utilized in an ‘80s-themed spot through the 2014 Tremendous Bowl for Radio Shack, whereas “Lovin’ Each Minute of It” soundtracked a 2016 Nationwide Automobile Rental spot that includes Patrick Warburton of “Tick” and “Seinfeld” fame.
“For me, it’s all in regards to the advertising,” says Reno. “This tune simply doesn’t stop. We wrote it 45 years in the past! It’s just like the little engine that simply retains on going.” And, he notes, “We did it with a complete tongue-in-cheek angle.”
IHOP Chief Advertising Officer Kieran Donohue stated the tune’s attraction got here from it being “a traditional piece of ‘Americana’ that spans generations, they usually had been recreation to play together with us.”
Hunkering down in Bryan Adams’ Vancouver studio, the band re-recorded the tune to mirror the advertising marketing campaign, calling it “Working for the Weekday” and altering the lyrics all through to plug the marketing campaign: “You desire a piece of my toast/ That’s why we love you probably the most.”
“We had a blast doing this,” Dean says. “We bordered on fooling around, however that’s fantastic. It was only a enjoyable factor we didn’t take too critically. We had been all completely in on the joke.”
In keeping with IHOP’s Donohue, the Home Faves promotion, launching right this moment (October 1) will contain “an omnichannel marketing campaign throughout TV, social, influencer companions and digital” designed to unfold consciousness and “drive company into eating places.”
The advert itself, with a chyron mimicking a classic MTV clip, is nearly a shot-by-shot recreation of the unique, with IHOP’s syrup bottles illustrated to seem like the band: The lid opens as a mouth; the keyboardist even has forks for palms. It was supervisor Wolfson’s concept to place Reno’s trademark purple bandana on one and strategically place the band’s emblem on the drum equipment.
Reno admits that his headband was initially a method to maintain sweat out of his eyes, however grew into one thing unexpectedly iconic through the years. “If I am going onstage with out it, the group begins to surprise, ‘Who is that this man?,’” he says. “And now it’s turn into part of me.”
The IHOP marketing campaign continues that just-roll-with-it spirit. “We’re happy with the tune and protecting of it, however we felt this may be a hoot,” Reno says. “It’s like parodying ourselves — though we took much less time recording the unique that this new model,” he laughs.
The band even put collectively a “blooper” reel filmed within the studio on Dean’s iPhone within the studio, working down a number of the lyrics that didn’t make it to the ultimate model.
Royalties aren’t all of the band will obtain from the spot: They’ll even be receiving IHOP present certificates.
“Anytime our music is being performed wherever, it’s good,” Reno concludes. “And now, I’m about to experiment on this planet of waffles.”
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