The Supposed Top 10 Worst Fast Food Campaigns of All Time
"THEY GOT A PEPPER BAR!"
I write "supposed" in the title above because Westword includes in its worsts roundup the Quiznos spongmonkeys. Clearly Westword doesn't know awesome when it sees it.
The spongmonkeys were brilliant, fun, and so out of the ordinary that they made you sit up and take notice. You also have to give Quiznos props for mining an internet meme and using it as a marketing tool long before it was cool to do so. Let's not forget that this was during Subway's white-bread Jared heyday, too. Thank God that someone was making innovative sub-sandwich commercials back in 2004. [After the jump, the Quiznos spongmonkey commercial.]
Other nominees on Westword's dubious list include Wendy's cross-dresser dude, Domino's Noid, and McD's "Mac Tonight."
Quiznos Spongmonkeys Commercial
The spongmonkeys were created by Joel Veitch of rathergood.com and were picked up by Quiznos' ad agency after an employee there was forwarded the clip in an email. Slate has a good backgrounder on the campaign.
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30 Comments:
To this day, I am unable to pass a Quizno's without thinking, and sometimes singing out loud, "they got a pepper bar!"
If that's not effective advertising, I don't know what is.
misha at 8:03PM on 03/02/09
I totally agree! I loved those commercials, and I am a big fan of rathergood in general. Hilarious and memorable!
sadiepix at 8:20PM on 03/02/09
I love the sponge monkeys. Favorite commercial ever. Why oh why did they abandon these strange creatures? They are impossible to forget.
StripeyChef at 9:00PM on 03/02/09
To me, the spongemonkeys always looked like talking roadkill. Mmmmmmmmm. Toasty.
kaszeta at 11:42PM on 03/02/09
That commercial never fails to crack me up. And I, too, think about the pepper bar every time I see a Quiznos.
RegrettableFoodie at 11:45PM on 03/02/09
Nope, an annoying and creepy commercial. It's upsettingly bad. It makes me want to vomit while punching a baby. If I go to Quiznos it's in spite of this commercial. It takes the worst part of the Internet (telling yourself you'll never get x-minutes of your life back after watching something stupid like He-man singing Four Non-blondes) and sticking it into the worst part (barely) of television, the commercials. What's even more upsetting than the badness of this commercial (and the internet meme it originated from) is the fact that people find it funny. Are these the same people who think LOLcats is funny?
gaucholoco at 12:24AM on 03/03/09
@goucholoco--if you're gonna punch a baby, do it because of the shitty food at quizno's, not a hilarious ad.
sailordave at 12:57AM on 03/03/09
The ad is not hilarious. It's disgusting. I hated it. It made me avoid Quizno's for years. That, and the ad they had in which people were pulling leftover sandwiches out of the garbage cans, their dogs' mouths, etc.
I mean, seriously, YUCK! I have never seen a Quizno's commercial that made the food look appetizing. I'm sticking to Subway.
minstrel at 2:06AM on 03/03/09
Oh, I do love me some spongmonkeys!
finsbigfan at 7:56AM on 03/03/09
Yeah that campaign was brilliant. I never went to Quiznos before seeing it and, like misha, if there's one thing I think of whenever I see a Quiznos it's "pepper bar".
Tombolo at 8:40AM on 03/03/09
If they consider that brilliant than the advertising agancy are nothing short of a bunch of idiots.......are you kidding me, whenever that commercial came on I go "WTF"
Markbb at 9:20AM on 03/03/09
.....and Hover Bacon!! I am such and Independent Woman!!
finsbigfan at 9:29AM on 03/03/09
I almost forgot about the spongmonkeys!
What are they? Where did they come from? I don't care, I just want a sub!
Laurel E at 9:41AM on 03/03/09
I love those little spongmonkeys so hard, y'all. I was completely thrilled when they got their own commercial, but to be honest, most of my friends were creeped out by the ad. I don't understand this. The ad is obviously memorable, and conveys important information about the brand - THEY GOT A PEPPER BAR! What more do you need to know? :-D
omglawdork at 9:48AM on 03/03/09
I echo gaucholoco's sentiments exactly. Gross.
Carnal at 10:15AM on 03/03/09
I still crack up over those Quizno's spongmonkeys. Really made you notice those ads. Hysterical. Way better than seeing that dull Jared guy and his pasty mug.
mrsegg at 10:16AM on 03/03/09
@ mischa - Absolutely! I randomly yell that out almost like a nervous tick. It's like a form of stress relief for me. I thought those commercials were stinkin hilarious! THEY GOT A PEPPER BAR!
Martini Me at 12:10PM on 03/03/09
yeah, put me down for a "that ad campaign was a real POS" vote. subway's jared campaign was bad too but that doesn't make this one any better.
sloppy at 12:32PM on 03/03/09
also -- i'm a little upset that avoid the noid made the list. the commercials were really annoying but he had his own video game and that should count for something.
sloppy at 12:35PM on 03/03/09
@sloppy: The Noid was memorable. I don't know why Subway's "$5 Foot Long" campaign didn't make the list.
Adam Kuban at 12:37PM on 03/03/09
I loved the sponge monkeys. I thought they were strange and a little gross, but they were awesome.
And Quiznos is 10x better than Subway any day. For real.
lo82070 at 2:03PM on 03/03/09
I've been singing that song with incorrect lyrics for years.
And I like that commercial, along with the Noid and MacTonight.
And I think LOLcats is funny. So I guess gaucholoco's theory on that could be true.
Kerosena at 2:45PM on 03/03/09
I never understood what the rat was saying, but I thought "Quizno's, you gonna like it!" was in one of them. I, too avoided Quizno's at the time. I thought the owners were likely to pee in the food if this was their idea of a good commercial.
I thought the Noid represented the dreaded crust bubble found in some pizzas, which blew up and shed sauce and cheese alike, and then burned. Called a noid. Avoid the noid. Dominos crust doesn't bubble. No?
lambowner at 3:28PM on 03/03/09
can you imagine a world with hover bacon,
lalalalalala
watchforbears at 10:35AM on 03/07/09
I hated those Quizno's commercials, but never forgot them. So they accomplished what they were meant to accomplish. Still not crazy about Quizno's, though. Overpriced, not enough veggies, and the bread scrapes up the roof of my mouth. Ouch.
buffy at 12:31PM on 03/08/09
i have also been singing the song wrong. ive been saying "EAT QUIZNOS SUUUUBS" every time me and my bf go there, and he always looks at me weird, and now i know why. oh well, i am quoting a deranged monkey puppet that looks like a dead hamster, so perhaps i am crazy. but i love the commercial. and i like lolcats.
redzerostar at 1:07AM on 03/09/09
@gaucholoco~~I thought that commercial was done with Photo Shop and dead hamsters, so keeping that in mind I found it bizarre and disturbing.
However, I love LOLcats, LOLdogs and FAILs, they are much more amusing than that Quizno's commercial IMO.
The day my brother went in there and saw them put his pre-sliced roast beef in a basket and then into hot water kept just for this purpose (note that water was not changed nor basket washed between meat changes) I could never bring myself to eat there. If I want a sub, and a good one, if I can't make my own, there are plenty of non-franchise sub shops around, better prices, better meat and more of all you want w/o freaky commercials.
iamon02 at 11:38AM on 03/09/09
The second that critter opens it's creepy mouth I crack up. I always loved those little marmots and was SO excited when they made it into a commercial because it heralded the New Age of internetstuffs leaking into the megamainstream. Way before its time. I remember this being a hot discussion topic with my geeky friends. We just couldn't believe Quiznos could be so ballsy. I mean, really, it's NOT like those creatures were at all appetizing.
THEY GOT A PEPPER BAR!
missbhavens at 12:35PM on 03/09/09
How dare Westwood speak ill of the spongmonkeys?!?
I haven't liked any Quiznos campaign since. As far as I'm concerned, the spongmonkeys should have been appointed permanently.
madampince61 at 8:28PM on 03/09/09
I'd never heard of Quiznos and most commercials are dull as dirt...and that's insulting dirt. I too said WTF and was really freaked out but it was because I was so happy that something so quirky and demented could actually end up on commercial tv. I am now a fan of "rathergood" (I really should get a stuffed spongemonkey or a t-shirt) and do also like LOLcats but my tastes in humor (as well as what I like to eat) are pretty diverse so I don't know if stereotyping is going to work...at least for me anyway. I too think these commercials were some of the best EVER!
organicgal at 9:07PM on 03/09/09