Thoughts
They've Done It Again
By Greg Hansen
Being in the advertising industry, I usually give advertisers and agencies a break when it comes to doing ads that stand out in the crowd. Some succeed and some fail. But I know how tough it can be to come up with something new and fresh.
About 2-3 years ago I wrote my first and only letter to a company to complain about their advertising campaign. It was the Quiznos “Spongmonkey” campaign. I called it the “Squished Rat” campaign. You remember it. The ads with the squished-rat-looking-things dancing around on screen. Mmmmm, nothing makes me want to eat a warm and toasty sandwich more than a squished rat.
I wrote a letter to Quiznos Marketing and, in my own little protest, didn’t eat there for more than a year. I have eaten at Quiznos a few times since, but there are still those squished rats in that little brand box in my head.
Now a new campaign may have surpassed the squished rats in terms of grossness. And guess what? It’s Quiznos again.
Now we have the eating money campaign.
If you haven’t seen the ads, various people eat money, a $5 bill or $5 in change, instead of eating the Quiznos $5 sub. Mmmmm, nothing makes me want to eat a warm and toasty sandwich more than eating filthy, dirty money.
I have a 5-year-old daughter. She has always had a problem with sticking things in her mouth. Even she has said to me, “Daddy, that’s gross. I don’t ever want to go there.” And I feel the same way. I don’t ever want to go there again.
So what is Quiznos trying to do? They are trying to be different and stand out in the crowd. But now what stands out in my head when I think of Quiznos are squished rats and eating dirty money. Not the things you want in your brand box when you are selling food.
The moral of the story – when putting things in your brand box, make sure they are things you actually want associated with your product.
Now, who wants Schlotzsky's?
E-mail the author: Greg Hansen
Click here to e-mail this article to a friend.
