Food commercials have always depended heavily on voiceover. Whether promoting pizza, burgers, fried chicken, sandwiches, or desserts, restaurant advertising often succeeds or fails based on how effectively the narration creates appetite, comfort, excitement, and emotional familiarity in a matter of seconds.
Yet the way food commercials sound today is dramatically different from the style that dominated television advertising decades ago.
Older restaurant commercials relied on loud announcer voices, rapid pacing, exaggerated enthusiasm, and aggressive promotional delivery. Modern food advertising has largely shifted toward conversational narration, personality-driven reads, and emotionally relaxed performances that feel more authentic to audiences shaped by streaming, social media, and influencer culture.
One restaurant chain that quietly reflects this broader shift is Shakey’s Pizza. Across multiple campaigns over the years, the company’s advertising style has evolved noticeably, moving away from traditional retail-commercial energy toward a warmer, more lifestyle-oriented approach to food narration. Recent campaigns such as “You Know You Want It!” demonstrate how restaurant brands increasingly use subtle voice performance and conversational rhythm to trigger cravings rather than simply shouting promotions at viewers.
That evolution mirrors changes happening throughout the entire food commercial voiceover industry.
Earlier Restaurant Commercials Prioritized Energy Over Authenticity
For decades, restaurant commercials followed a relatively predictable formula.
Fast pacing, oversized enthusiasm, loud announcer delivery, and constant promotional language dominated television advertising across the food industry. Commercials frequently emphasized limited-time offers, low prices, oversized portions, or rapid-fire menu descriptions designed to create urgency.
This style worked particularly well during the height of traditional broadcast television because viewers expected commercials to sound energetic and highly performative. Brands competed aggressively for attention during short commercial breaks, and voice actors were often directed to sound bigger, louder, and faster.
Older restaurant campaigns from chains like Shakey’s reflected that broader industry approach.
Many earlier pizza and family-restaurant commercials focused heavily on excitement and spectacle. Narration often emphasized:
- buffet deals
- arcade attractions
- family gatherings
- sports nights
- promotional pricing
- oversized menu visuals
The voiceover style itself tended to feature highly projected announcer reads with sharp pacing and exaggerated excitement. These performances were designed to dominate attention immediately.
One example of this older commercial style can be heard in many regional and national restaurant campaigns from the 1980s and 1990s, where voice actors delivered lines almost rhythmically, pushing information quickly while matching rapid editing and upbeat music.
Several experienced commercial voice actors built careers around this delivery style. Performers like Don LaFontaine, while more famous for trailers and promos, heavily influenced commercial pacing throughout that era. Restaurant ads increasingly adopted similarly theatrical narration styles because they conveyed excitement quickly.
Shakey’s earlier campaigns also leaned heavily into family entertainment branding. The restaurants often promoted themselves as social destinations rather than simply food locations. Commercials emphasized birthday parties, game rooms, sports viewing, and communal experiences, with narration reinforcing that energetic atmosphere.
The reads themselves were highly polished and carefully projected. Even casual dialogue often sounded overtly “commercial.”
Over time, however, audience expectations began changing.
Conversational Narration Became the New Standard in Food Advertising
As television advertising evolved into the streaming and social media era, brands slowly realized that audiences were becoming resistant to overly aggressive commercial narration.
Modern viewers spend enormous amounts of time consuming conversational content online:
- podcasts
- YouTube videos
- livestreams
- TikTok clips
- influencer marketing
- documentary-style sports and entertainment content
That shift dramatically affected commercial voiceover.
Audiences increasingly responded more positively to narration that sounded relaxed, authentic, and emotionally believable rather than traditionally “announcer-like.” Food advertising changed alongside those habits.
The Shakey’s Pizza “You Know You Want It!” campaign provides a strong example of this transition.
Voiced by Jerry Beharry, the campaign uses a noticeably smoother and more conversational delivery style than older restaurant commercials. The narration does not sound like someone aggressively trying to sell a product. Instead, it feels confident, casual, and appetite-focused.
That difference is important.
Modern food commercials increasingly aim to create cravings and emotional comfort rather than overwhelming audiences with promotional intensity. The pacing is slower. The vocal rhythm feels more natural. The performance leaves room for the visuals and food imagery to breathe.
Jerry Beharry’s read works particularly well because it balances enthusiasm with restraint. His delivery carries warmth and confidence without sounding forced. There is also a subtle “smile-through-the-voice” quality common in modern food advertising, where the performer sounds genuinely pleased by the product rather than simply reciting ad copy.
This style fits contemporary restaurant branding far more effectively than older hard-sell approaches.
Beharry’s broader commercial voiceover background also reflects the growing versatility required in modern advertising narration. Many contemporary commercial VAs now move fluidly between:
- lifestyle commercials
- sports promos
- food advertising
- streaming campaigns
- digital branding
- social media ads
The reads themselves often sound intentionally less polished because audiences now associate hyper-polished delivery with traditional advertising rather than authenticity.
That shift fundamentally changed food commercial voiceover.
Restaurant Campaigns After “You Know You Want It!” Continued Evolving Toward Personality
More recent restaurant campaigns across the industry, including newer Shakey’s spots, continued moving toward personality-driven narration and emotionally relaxed storytelling.
Instead of relying purely on product promotion, many newer campaigns focus on experiences:
- game nights
- comfort food
- family gatherings
- sports events
- nostalgia
- casual social moments
Voiceover delivery evolved alongside that branding strategy.
Modern restaurant narration often feels closer to lifestyle storytelling than traditional salesmanship. Commercials increasingly use voices that sound conversational, regional, relatable, or emotionally familiar.
This trend can be seen throughout multiple restaurant chains, not only Shakey’s.
Domino’s campaigns shifted toward self-aware conversational humor and realism after years of more aggressive promotional advertising. Pizza Hut campaigns experimented with celebrity-driven narration and softer lifestyle-focused delivery. Regional chains increasingly adopted documentary-like narration styles designed to feel personal rather than corporate.
Several modern commercial voice actors became associated with this newer style of food advertising.
Voice actor and commercial narrator Beau Weaver, for example, became known for warmer and more grounded commercial delivery styles that contrasted sharply against older announcer-era pacing. Other performers across restaurant advertising began emphasizing conversational realism over theatrical projection.
More recent restaurant campaigns also increasingly incorporate celebrity or personality-driven narration. Instead of using anonymous announcer voices, brands often choose performers whose personalities already carry emotional associations for audiences.
That strategy overlaps heavily with influencer culture and social media branding. Audiences now respond strongly to voices that feel familiar or emotionally “real.”
This is partly why modern food ads frequently sound more relaxed and less performative than older campaigns.
The narration itself has become part of the comfort-food atmosphere.
Voiceover Timing and Appetite Psychology Still Drive Food Commercial Success
Despite major stylistic changes, restaurant advertising still depends heavily on voiceover craft.
Food commercials remain one of the most specialized forms of commercial narration because the voice must work in direct coordination with food visuals, editing rhythm, music, and emotional tone.
Good food commercial voiceover relies on:
- pacing
- timing
- appetite-focused emphasis
- tonal warmth
- emotional familiarity
- vocal texture
- believable enthusiasm
Even a small pause before describing a menu item can affect how audiences perceive the product emotionally.
Modern food ads often intentionally slow down delivery around close-up food shots, allowing the audience time to process textures, movement, steam, cheese pulls, sauces, or crunchy sound design. Voice actors must match that pacing naturally without making the read feel artificial.
That balancing act is more difficult than it appears.
The strongest food commercial reads often sound effortless precisely because the performance is carefully controlled.
Restaurant advertising also depends heavily on emotional association. Different narration styles create different emotional responses:
- loud announcer reads create excitement
- softer conversational reads create comfort
- regional voices create familiarity
- playful narration creates nostalgia
- celebrity voices create recognition and trust
Brands now think far more carefully about those emotional associations than they did decades ago.
Shakey’s evolution across multiple campaigns reflects that broader understanding. Earlier ads focused heavily on attention-grabbing energy. Newer campaigns focus more on atmosphere, cravings, and emotional familiarity.
The narration changed because audiences changed.
Streaming, Social Media, and Digital Advertising Completely Reshaped Commercial Voiceover
One major reason restaurant commercial narration evolved so dramatically is the collapse of the traditional television advertising environment.
Older commercials were built primarily for:
- broadcast television
- fixed commercial breaks
- captive audiences
- short attention spans
Modern restaurant ads now appear across:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- streaming services
- sports broadcasts
- mobile apps
- digital pre-roll ads
That completely changed how voiceovers are performed.
Viewers scrolling social media or watching streaming content react differently to narration than audiences sitting through traditional television commercials decades ago. Loud, exaggerated announcer reads can now feel dated or overly artificial online.
Conversational narration survives more effectively across multiple platforms because it blends more naturally into modern media environments.
Restaurant advertising also became shorter and faster. Many campaigns now rely on:
- 6-second ads
- 15-second clips
- social-first edits
- looping food visuals
- influencer crossover content
Voice actors working in modern food advertising must adapt to those formats constantly.
The result is a completely different commercial voiceover environment than the one that existed during the peak era of traditional television food advertising.
Why Food Commercial Voiceover Still Remains One of the Most Important Commercial Genres
Even as advertising platforms continue evolving, food commercials remain one of the most voiceover-dependent categories in the entire industry.
Unlike some product ads that can rely heavily on visuals alone, restaurant advertising still depends strongly on emotional narration to shape audience response. The voice often determines whether the ad feels comforting, exciting, premium, nostalgic, or craveable.
That emotional influence explains why restaurant brands continue investing heavily in commercial voiceover despite massive changes in advertising technology.
The strongest food narration rarely sounds accidental. Every pause, emphasis, and tonal shift is usually designed carefully around appetite psychology and brand identity.
Shakey’s Pizza provides an interesting case study because its campaigns quietly reflect the broader transformation of restaurant commercial voiceover over time. Earlier ads emphasized high-energy spectacle and classic television-commercial pacing. Later campaigns shifted toward smoother conversational narration designed to feel more emotionally natural.
That same evolution can now be seen across nearly the entire restaurant industry.
Modern food commercial voiceover is no longer about sounding like the loudest announcer in the room. Increasingly, it is about sounding believable enough that audiences feel hungry before they even realize the commercial is selling them something.