Y’all know I am a sucker for pop culture trash. Over the weekend, some visiting friends introduced me to Mr. Delicious, the short-lived cartoon spokesman for Rax, a fast food chain whose business was declining in the early 1990s when it tried to turn things around with a bizarre ad campaign featuring “Mr. Delicious,” a middle-aged animated loser who spoke of how eating at Rax helped him deal with his various crises.

Mr. D was a deeply weird dude. Nathan Rabin writes:

It only gets darker, sadder and weirder from there. In another radio spot, Mr. Delicious regales us with the details of his “bout with midlife crisis in 89.” He goes on to explain, with the perfect note of soul-deep self-loathing. “Fortunately (Mr. Delicious) was able to sell the Porsche back to the dealer. But much to his chagrin, he discovered that custom-designed hair weaves are non-refundable. Same for the rotating glitter disco ball he installed in his basement and that vacation to Bora Bora he took with those two young “friends” that left Mr. Delicious feeling empty and unfulfilled, unlike the robust sandwiches baked potatoes and refreshing drinks on the Rax menu for only 99 cents each.”

In another spot, Mr. Delicious alludes to the pain of his vasectomy. This, to try to sell fast food. What’s he got in that valise? Parts of Mrs. D’s torso? You wouldn’t be surprised — Mr. D is bizarre, man.

Here is a four-minute rundown of the psychotic management of the Rax brand, culminating in the Mr. Delicious character.

If you want to know more — and of course you do! — here is a 13-minute mini-documentary Rax corporate made to get its franchisees and employees excited about Mr. Delicious. I beg you to watch this, and imagine the mindset of the geniuses who thought this would work:

Shortly after the Mr. D campaign launched, Rax filed for bankruptcy. As Mr. Delicious says, “Dickety-dee!”