Commentary

Brandtique: Chili's

The fajitas are good, the atmosphere pleasantly relaxed, and the chips and salsa a welcome sight as soon as you sit down. But by and large, the Chili's restaurant chain isn't nearly as well known for its menu as its jingle. It's so catchy it inspires one to sing along, perhaps even fall under the delusion that he/she has an undiscovered knack for a capella.

How ingrained is the ditty about baby back, baby back, baby back...ribs in American pop culture? Perhaps the greatest recognition came when the character "Fat Bastard" launched into a mocking rendition in the 1999 film "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." It has also appeared by happenstance in multiple television shows.

Last year, a Chili's executive told Advertising Age that the jingle's unexpected appearance in pop culture prompted the chain to take more control and look for ways to do paid product integration in shows such as NBC's "The Office" and the WB's "Gilmore Girls."

The strategy is continuing. On the May 16 episode of NBC comedy "Scrubs," the jingle was sung in all its mellifluousness, and even played a role in the story line (the integration was evaluated and ranked via research firm iTVX as one of the five most effective product placements last week).

advertisement

advertisement

First, one of the characters, nurse Carla Espinosa (played by Judy Reyes), has a baby shower. A quartet begins to serenade her with an opening line of "Baby, baby, baby, oooh," indicating that there's more to come about the joys of motherhood. Then, suddenly, the crooners launch into a tune about a different baby...baby back ribs...

-"I want my baby back, baby back, baby back...I want my baby back, baby back, baby back..." -"Chili's, baby back ribs. I want my baby back ribs." -"Barbecue sauce."

Carla is appalled. Her friend and shower patron, Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), is furious and demands her money back. The motley quartet pleads leniency on the grounds that it's the only song they know with "baby" in it.

Later, the show pokes fun at the unforgettable nature of the jingle. After a doctor botches a vasectomy on fellow physician, Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), Cox opts to punish him by using the jingle in the vein of Chinese water torture. The errant physician is straitjacketed with duct tape and forced to listen to the quartet stuck on repeat--with "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, I want my baby back, baby back, baby back..." The physician is apoplectic. "When do they say ribs?" he asks in desperation. The vindictive Cox responds: "Never...They never say ribs."

Credit Chili's for not taking itself too seriously. It seems the chain is reveling in--rather than rejecting--the Austin Powers tongue-in-cheek take on its jingle, and happy to pursue the same tack.

The "Scrubs" integrations are a clever way for Chili's to insert its calling card into a popular show and reinforce the memorable jingle's place in peoples' inner jukeboxes. And if Chili's has its way, the tactic will bring a few more people into its restaurants seeking those Grilled Baby Backs, perhaps whistling or singing the tune along the way.

Next story loading loading..