View From the Phlipside - Swiss Chalet TV

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

Lots of serious stuff this week so why not throw in something that's at the complete opposite end of the spectrum?  Something that's borderline ridiculous, outrageous, funny and, oh did I mention, just lip smackingly delicious.

Since I love the underlying history of things let's give a quick nod to the history behind this.  It's the Christmas Yule log TV broadcast started by New York TV station WPIX.  If you're not familiar with it it's a two hour long loop of video of a fireplace broadcast on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.  You get the video of the fireplace and some Christmas music.  That's it.  Of such things are legends made of.

Flash forward in time and a couple hundred miles west in location.  If we were in Canada and were subscribers to Rogers Cable we could turn to channel 208 right this very minute and watch the Swiss Chalet channel.  Oh but it gets better!  What do you watch on the Swiss Chalet channel?  Well if you're a fan of the restaurant chain, and I count myself as one, then you know it would have to be...yes, a chicken turning on a rotisserie over a flame.  Yes, you heard me right.  This 24 hour a day, 7 day a week channel offers you the chance to watch rotisserie chickens turning on its spit and hear the sound of sizzling.  And that's pretty much it.

The channel launched at the end of February as part of a, here comes the bombshell, new advertising campaign for Swiss Chalet.  The idea began with the current batch of TV ads that feature a Swiss Chalet employee whose idea to make the brand better known is a rotisserie channel.  The obvious next step was to do just that.  Periodically the screen also carries promos for the Swiss Chalet Facebook page and the codes for a variety of discounts that fans can use.

If you want to experience it for yourself then just hop on over to their website (link below) and you can watch the channel right on your computer screen.  It's bizarre, and fascinating, and rather delicious looking while still being just slightly disturbing.  The really bad news is that if the Rotisserie Channel puts you in the mood for some Swiss Chalet it's a bit of a drive.  The nearest one I can find is in Niagara Falls.  Ontario.

Guess I may just have to drool on my monitor for a while.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Check it out HERE  

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2011