Annoyed by the oven mitt
December 1, 2004 7:41 PM Subscribe
Everybody loves to hate the Arby's oven mitt. A slightly crazed version of mitt-hate. An editorial on how the commercials could have been amusing, but instead fell flat. Finally, scary stuff you can buy from Arby's (link on the left nav, can't link directly).
Ever since Grimace, all fast food mascots and pitchman have been terrible. The Taco Bell dog, Jared, Oven Mitt, The Hardees (Carl's Jr.) Star, Mr. Wendy. I'll make a small exception for the Japanese Sexy Ronald McDonald. In my book, Grimace is still the shit, yo.
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:57 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:57 PM on December 1, 2004
Has anybody seen Grimace lately? I haven't. But I'm sure he still lives. Did he get carried into Heaven by God, where he lives with Elijah, waiting for his chance to return to earth?
posted by Kleptophoria! at 8:07 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by Kleptophoria! at 8:07 PM on December 1, 2004
The post-1980 Grimace is a total wuss. The evil 70s Grimace was a *real* mascot.
And oven mitt sucks. Arby's would be better off with commercials starring David Puddy wearing his 8-ball jacket.
posted by Galvatron at 8:15 PM on December 1, 2004
And oven mitt sucks. Arby's would be better off with commercials starring David Puddy wearing his 8-ball jacket.
posted by Galvatron at 8:15 PM on December 1, 2004
alf f4 said: I like Oven Mitt.
I spraypainted just that on the underpass only yesterday.
posted by undule at 8:27 PM on December 1, 2004
I spraypainted just that on the underpass only yesterday.
posted by undule at 8:27 PM on December 1, 2004
I came in here just to hear someone say yes but you're talking about it, so the ad campaign is working!. Since no one has written that yet, I don't have to attempt to generate a horrible screeching noise using only text.
posted by argybarg at 8:36 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by argybarg at 8:36 PM on December 1, 2004
What about the Snuggles bear? I hate that thing too!
posted by asbates2 at 8:45 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by asbates2 at 8:45 PM on December 1, 2004
I enjoyed this NYT article when the ads were first launched in Feb 03, because they referred to "Mr. Mitt." I really don't like the newer ads because I thought Tom Arnold's voice added a certain attitude that the wimpier and desperate-to-please current ones don't show.
posted by stevil at 8:52 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by stevil at 8:52 PM on December 1, 2004
Asbates2 interjected: What about the Snuggles bear? I hate that thing too!
OMG, yes, the snuggles bear deserves some deep hurtful . . lovin', I guess. The kind that'd make him frowny.
Fire with Fire and all that.
posted by undule at 8:53 PM on December 1, 2004
OMG, yes, the snuggles bear deserves some deep hurtful . . lovin', I guess. The kind that'd make him frowny.
Fire with Fire and all that.
posted by undule at 8:53 PM on December 1, 2004
When the oven mitt first came out I called and complained about it. I told them that it was annoying and a ripoff of the hamburger helper. The guy who took my called just sort of laughed off my complaints. That bastard.
posted by philcliff at 9:00 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by philcliff at 9:00 PM on December 1, 2004
What about the Snuggles bear? I hate that thing too!
There was a skit from The State with Beth Littleford playing a housewife in a detergent commercial. A snuggles lookalike suddenly starts talking, she screams and starts beating it to death with an iron. I need to see that again now.
posted by stavrogin at 9:01 PM on December 1, 2004
There was a skit from The State with Beth Littleford playing a housewife in a detergent commercial. A snuggles lookalike suddenly starts talking, she screams and starts beating it to death with an iron. I need to see that again now.
posted by stavrogin at 9:01 PM on December 1, 2004
Sweet Jeebus, Galvatron! I never knew Grimace used to have four arms!
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:03 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:03 PM on December 1, 2004
stevil: The Times once referred to Meat Loaf as Mr. Loaf.
posted by raysmj at 9:07 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by raysmj at 9:07 PM on December 1, 2004
Countdown to mascot hatred ground zero:
3. Oven Mitt
2. Snuggles Bear
1. Any Welch's Spokeschild
Wretched little monsters.
On preview: stavrogin, I remember that skit. High-larious.
posted by jennyb at 9:10 PM on December 1, 2004
3. Oven Mitt
2. Snuggles Bear
1. Any Welch's Spokeschild
Wretched little monsters.
On preview: stavrogin, I remember that skit. High-larious.
posted by jennyb at 9:10 PM on December 1, 2004
You can't kill Snuggle, but Snuggle can sure kill static cling. (4MB WMV)
posted by Galvatron at 9:17 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by Galvatron at 9:17 PM on December 1, 2004
On the first link, I notice a "Ukraine Support Ribbon" in the bottom left-hand corner that links back to MeFi.... what's that all about? Is this a MeFite's site? just curious.
posted by exlotuseater at 9:33 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by exlotuseater at 9:33 PM on December 1, 2004
Has anybody seen Grimace lately? I haven't. But I'm sure he still lives. Did he get carried into Heaven by God, where he lives with Elijah, waiting for his chance to return to earth?
One of my coworkers told me that several years ago he went to the Big XII baseball tournament here in Dallas. One of the games he saw was Kansas State vs. someone. Apparently the third base coach for K-State was rather...rotund, and the fans of the opposing team started chanting "griiiiiiiimace....griiiiiiiimace" at him when he came out on the field.
It's a mean story, but it still makes me laugh.
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:59 PM on December 1, 2004
One of my coworkers told me that several years ago he went to the Big XII baseball tournament here in Dallas. One of the games he saw was Kansas State vs. someone. Apparently the third base coach for K-State was rather...rotund, and the fans of the opposing team started chanting "griiiiiiiimace....griiiiiiiimace" at him when he came out on the field.
It's a mean story, but it still makes me laugh.
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:59 PM on December 1, 2004
What about the wannabe Snuggle mascot, the porcupine who said in a near-Harvey Fierstein voice "But I'm snuggly soft!"
posted by stevil at 10:02 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by stevil at 10:02 PM on December 1, 2004
stevil- YES! "Please Leave."
posted by exlotuseater at 10:09 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by exlotuseater at 10:09 PM on December 1, 2004
I have a theory about The Mitt. Arby's logo has long been a loopdeloop illustration representing a cowboy hat, to associate the restaurant with beef, I suppose. Now that Arby's is branching out into other types of food, they were looking for a way to keep logo recognition, but lose the cowboy-beef-thing, so they have decided that no, it's not a 10 gallon hat-- it's an oven mitt that represents all that stuff we're always, uh, baking and whatnot. You can see this leap being made at the end of each commercial, when the oven mitt spins/morphs into the logo.
posted by 4easypayments at 10:20 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by 4easypayments at 10:20 PM on December 1, 2004
Arby's mascots have been going downhill ever since R-B the robot. Pass the Horsey Sauce...
posted by HoJu at 10:26 PM on December 1, 2004
posted by HoJu at 10:26 PM on December 1, 2004
Ever since Grimace, all fast food mascots and pitchman have been terrible.
What about the Quiznos Spongmonkeys? (Really, watch the spot. They're great.)
posted by rafter at 10:47 PM on December 1, 2004
What about the Quiznos Spongmonkeys? (Really, watch the spot. They're great.)
posted by rafter at 10:47 PM on December 1, 2004
Apparently Twinkie the Kid organized his own cult and Punchy is doing a nickel up in Attica for assault and battery.
Sadly Mr.Zip died of amphetamine abuse.
Although things seemed to work out for some pitchmen, Mr.Clean finally "came out" and started wearing the earring on the other side.
...ok, I stole those jokes from Evan Dorkin
posted by Smedleyman at 11:24 PM on December 1, 2004
Sadly Mr.Zip died of amphetamine abuse.
Although things seemed to work out for some pitchmen, Mr.Clean finally "came out" and started wearing the earring on the other side.
...ok, I stole those jokes from Evan Dorkin
posted by Smedleyman at 11:24 PM on December 1, 2004
With all due disrespect to Oven Mitt, my vote for Worst Fast Food Mascot Ever goes to one Iam Hungry, McDonaldland's short-lived VP of Snacking. If memory serves, this ridiculous green go-go '90s spokesthing dates from about 1998, and the annoying little Flash animation duplicated on the Geocities site in my link was prominently featured on McDick's own website.
Alas, Mr. Hungry was soon downsized out of his job, like so many go-go '90s spokesthings, and never reached the level of mass loathing that Oven Mitt has apparently inspired.
(And yes, I'm as amazed as anyone that I actually managed to find the crappy Flash animation preserved out there in the digital ether.)
posted by gompa at 12:42 AM on December 2, 2004
Alas, Mr. Hungry was soon downsized out of his job, like so many go-go '90s spokesthings, and never reached the level of mass loathing that Oven Mitt has apparently inspired.
(And yes, I'm as amazed as anyone that I actually managed to find the crappy Flash animation preserved out there in the digital ether.)
posted by gompa at 12:42 AM on December 2, 2004
gompa, is that . . . real?
Someone will sleep heavier this evening.
posted by undule at 2:44 AM on December 2, 2004
Someone will sleep heavier this evening.
posted by undule at 2:44 AM on December 2, 2004
That was totally unsatisfying and unfunny.
Kind of like the commercials, I guess.
posted by blacklite at 3:49 AM on December 2, 2004
Kind of like the commercials, I guess.
posted by blacklite at 3:49 AM on December 2, 2004
all fast food mascots and pitchman have been terrible.
No way! Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey for Taco John's is awesome!
posted by macadamiaranch at 5:32 AM on December 2, 2004
No way! Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey for Taco John's is awesome!
posted by macadamiaranch at 5:32 AM on December 2, 2004
I nominate The Pillsbury Doughboy for mascot I would most like to see drawn and quartered. Ugh that giggle...I can't get it out of my head. I read somewhere that Mr. Doughboy remains unmarried-- to make him more attractive to housewives. Cause, you know, we're all about fat white boys who giggle.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:05 AM on December 2, 2004
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:05 AM on December 2, 2004
I really don't like the newer ads because I thought Tom Arnold's voice added a certain attitude that the wimpier and desperate-to-please current ones don't show.
I thought there was something different about the newer ads, but wasn't sure what. (Tom Arnold is funny. Tom Arnold-imitator is not.)
posted by escorter at 6:12 AM on December 2, 2004
I thought there was something different about the newer ads, but wasn't sure what. (Tom Arnold is funny. Tom Arnold-imitator is not.)
posted by escorter at 6:12 AM on December 2, 2004
Recalled!
"To our valued customers:
We have decided to voluntarily recall the $1.99 oven mitts sold in our restaurants. These mitts were a part of a charity fundraiser and are being recalled due to product quality concerns.
We encourage you to return your oven mitt to the Arby’s restaurant where you purchased it for a full refund."
The oven mitts purchased directly from this web site
are NOT part of this promotion or recall.
posted by geoscott at 9:09 AM on December 2, 2004
"To our valued customers:
We have decided to voluntarily recall the $1.99 oven mitts sold in our restaurants. These mitts were a part of a charity fundraiser and are being recalled due to product quality concerns.
We encourage you to return your oven mitt to the Arby’s restaurant where you purchased it for a full refund."
The oven mitts purchased directly from this web site
are NOT part of this promotion or recall.
posted by geoscott at 9:09 AM on December 2, 2004
Galvatron - thanks for the link! ("Agh, my button eyes! You crazy bitch!") Awesome.
posted by Tubes at 9:37 AM on December 2, 2004
posted by Tubes at 9:37 AM on December 2, 2004
Ok. It kinda sucks, but I like that they just call it Oven Mitt, and didn't give it a sick, cutesy name, at least.
posted by rainbaby at 3:41 PM on December 2, 2004
posted by rainbaby at 3:41 PM on December 2, 2004
Tubes, I recall a similar commercial parody (SNL or MadTV probably) that was even better executed. It had a family drinking a Sunny Delight clone, and the sunshine mascot came to life and started talking about how great the drink is. They all ran away screaming, and the sunshine was chasing them yelling something like, "Wait! I've got 14 different vitamins and minerals!"
No luck so far finding this one on the internet.
posted by Galvatron at 7:06 PM on December 2, 2004
No luck so far finding this one on the internet.
posted by Galvatron at 7:06 PM on December 2, 2004
gompa, many thanks for re-introducing I.M. Hungry into the public consciousness. But who was the President of Snacking? Ronald, I guess.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:23 PM on December 2, 2004
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:23 PM on December 2, 2004
I have come to this thread awfully late, but I wanted to give a shout-out to the Burger King Kids Club, whose exploits I followed on placemats and bus shelter ads in Kingston. Best of all is the member in a wheelchair, amusingly named "Wheels".
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:45 AM on December 3, 2004
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:45 AM on December 3, 2004
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
But yeah, I really, really don't like that freakin' mitt. One of the worst ad campaigns that I can recall. I love the "hate the mitt" site -- fire, rottweilers, etc -- a fitting end to that foul mitt.
posted by davidmsc at 7:55 PM on December 1, 2004