Fifty years ago this month, Manners restaurants was advertising a tasty sandwich deal: two Big Boys for 99 cents. The chain also wanted to plug the fact that its carhop hostesses had new red, white and blue outfits.
Consequently, the company's advertising firm came up with the punny ad above, utilizing two different meanings of the word 'dish.'
Although the ad would be seen as sexist today, you've got to admit that it's still pretty innocuous – and mild by today's standards. The young waitress is cute and wholesome. (Fifty years later, some sports bar chains are built around the attire that their waitresses wear.)
What's interesting is that the Manners ad represents a different approach to promoting the Big Boy sandwich with no trace of the chubby mascot in sight. Robert Manners (co-founder of the restaurant chain) had sold his business to Consolidated Foods in 1968, so perhaps the new owner was still trying different approaches to see what worked.
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Manners and Big Boy has been a favorite topic on this blog.
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UPDATE (Sept. 5, 2022)
Two months after the Manners ad shown above appeared in the Journal, the second ad in the 99 cents campaign turned up in the paper on September 1, 1972. This time, the advertisement included the Manners Big Boy advertising mascot as a sign-off.
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