Once the realm of low-budget TV advertising, the restaurant commercial with owners and staff as actors has returned on TikTok.
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“Do not look at her, she’s going to try to sell us pancakes,” the TikTok video begins ominously.
A car drives slowly past a restaurant where a woman wearing tiny, wire-rimmed glasses with dark lenses stands outside holding plates of pancakes covered in blueberries and strawberries.
As the car rolls past the woman, she suddenly, seamlessly, appears in the back seat offering up the dishes to the passengers. “What are you looking for?” she asks.
@judysfamilycafe What are you looking for?@judywang #galesburgillinois #pancakes #海外创业 #breakfast ♬ original sound – Judy Wang – Judy's Family Cafe
There’s a pleasantly bizarre energy to the video that makes it hard to look away. Perhaps it’s the synth beats of the music, or the way the woman appears to stare beyond the camera and directly into your soul, but something resonated online. The video has been viewed more than 9.8 million times on TikTok since it was posted in early August and helped rocket the woman, Judy Wang, and her restaurant, Judy’s Family Cafe in Galesburg, Ill., to viral success.
Before the restaurant’s social media moment, Ms. Wang, 38, said in an interview that business at the five-year-old cafe, which serves all-day breakfast, was just OK. Now, she regularly sees customers coming in from out of state — some as far as New York — for a meal and to meet her. On Yelp, many recent reviews reference her social media content: “We drove two hours to visit after we saw her HILARIOUS videos.”
Victor Dantas, a 29-year-old waiter at the restaurant, helps Ms. Wang with creating the videos. He often guest stars alongside his boss and estimated their customer count on weekends has doubled since they started making videos in July.
@urbantandoorbristol We’re waiting for the duet @John Travolta 👀 #urbantandoorbristol #urbantandoor #parodysong #parodysongs #greaselightning #johntravolta #sandyanddanny #naan ♬ original sound – Urban Tandoor
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