Fab Food

Denny’s new television commercials use 1950s teen idol Fabian to pitch the Spartanburg, S.C.-based restaurant chain’s new Griddle Greats breakfast entrees.

The connection? Denny’s opened its first diners more than 40 years ago at the same time Fabian was topping the charts with hits like “Turn Me Loose” and “Tiger.”

Denny’s also has a new tag line--Good Eats and Comfortable Seats.

That breaks with Denny’s long-standing emphasis on prices. Back in 1980, the chain’s tag line was “You’ll Like Our Prices. You’ll Love Our Food.”

“People now understand that we offer a good value,” said Jon Jameson, Denny’s senior vice president of marketing. “What we’re trying to do now is talk about the experience, the ambience, the quality of service.”

The new ads are aimed squarely at a younger crowd. That’s in contrast with previous ads featuring two seniors, the fictional Corlick Sisters, and their debate about whether the chain was named Lenny’s or Denny’s.

Denny’s, the nation’s largest full-service restaurant chain with more than 1,600 locations nationwide, has won unwanted attention for complaints from customers who allege discriminatory practices by restaurant personnel--like a group of black students from Baltimore who last week said they were not seated at a Denny’s restaurant in Florida during a field trip to Disney World.

In keeping with a consent decree signed with the federal government, the restaurant now includes minorities in all of its advertising.