It’s fair to say that anyone who remembers the video for Loverboy’s smash single “Working for the Weekend” was probably around for the early days of MTV, when the group was transformed into superstars overnight thanks to heavy rotation on the culture-shifting new cultural cable channel. Powered by that single and others, the red-clad, headbanded group’s “Get Lucky” album went quadruple platinum in the U.S., and the band’s hot streak continued for two more multiplatinum albums and hits like “Lovin’ Every Minute of It” and “Hot Girls in Love” before tailing off toward the end of the decade.
Yet Loverboy’s hits remain rock-radio staples, so when Loverboy manager Jonathan Wolfson got the call from Sony Music Publishing creative James Armstrong that IHOP wanted to use their song “Working for the Weekend” to promote their new weekday $6 House Faves menu, he immediately took the request to the band.
“I was a little nervous about doing a campaign for a restaurant, but it is one of my favorites,” admits Loverboy singer and co-founder Mike Reno. “Who doesn’t like pancakes, right?”
Guitarist Paul Dean recalls hitting IHOPs multiple times while the band was touring with Sammy Hagar back in the day. “It’s just a natural thing for us,” he says. “They’re everywhere and so are we. When the offer came through, I just thought, ‘perfect.’”
This isn’t the first time Loverboy songs have been used in national campaigns. “Working for the Weekend” was previously used in an ‘80s-themed spot during the 2014 Super Bowl for Radio Shack, while “Lovin’ Every Minute of It” soundtracked a 2016 National Car Rental spot featuring Patrick Warburton of “Tick” and “Seinfeld” fame.
“For me, it’s all about the marketing,” says Reno. “This song just doesn’t quit. We wrote it 45 years ago! It’s like the little engine that just keeps on going.” And, he notes, “We did it with a total tongue-in-cheek attitude.”
IHOP Chief Marketing Officer Kieran Donohue said the song’s attraction came from it being “a classic piece of ‘Americana’ that spans generations, and they were game to play along with us.”
Hunkering down in Bryan Adams’ Vancouver studio, the band re-recorded the song to reflect the marketing campaign, calling it “Working for the Weekday” and altering the lyrics throughout to plug the campaign: “You want a piece of my toast/ That’s why we love you the most.”
“We had a blast doing this,” Dean says. “We bordered on being silly, but that’s fine. It was just a fun thing we didn’t take too seriously. We were all totally in on the joke.”
According to IHOP’s Donohue, the House Faves promotion, launching today (October 1) will involve “an omnichannel campaign across TV, social, influencer partners and digital” designed to spread awareness and “drive guests into restaurants.”
The ad itself, with a chyron mimicking a vintage MTV clip, is almost a shot-by-shot recreation of the original, with IHOP’s syrup bottles illustrated to look like the band: The lid opens as a mouth; the keyboardist even has forks for hands. It was manager Wolfson’s idea to put Reno’s trademark red bandana on one and strategically place the band’s logo on the drum kit.
Reno admits that his headband was originally a way to keep sweat out of his eyes, but grew into something unexpectedly iconic over the years. “If I go onstage without it, the crowd starts to wonder, ‘Who is this guy?,’” he says. “And now it’s become a part of me.”
The IHOP campaign continues that just-roll-with-it spirit. “We’re proud of the song and protective of it, but we felt this would be a hoot,” Reno says. “It’s like parodying ourselves — although we took less time recording the original that this new version,” he laughs.
The band even put together a “blooper” reel filmed in the studio on Dean’s iPhone in the studio, running down some of the lyrics that didn’t make it to the final version.
Royalties aren’t all the band will receive from the spot: They’ll also be receiving IHOP gift certificates.
“Anytime our music is being played anywhere, it’s good,” Reno concludes. “And now, I’m about to experiment in the world of waffles.”
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