Quiznos - Advertising

Advertising

The company's first major advertising push was a successful advertising campaign during the 2002 Super Bowl. Early TV spots advertised the innovation of toasting sandwiches, as compared to the inventor of pants (humorously contrasted with men wearing bushes). One ad in 2003 depicted a man (a then-unknown Jim Parsons) who had been "raised by wolves" by suckling at a mother wolf's teat (an ad which was pulled after the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy). Other ads included several ads in early 2004 featuring bizarre, rodent-like, singing creatures called Spongmonkeys, as well as Quiznos ads in Canada featuring hockey commentator Don Cherry. In 2005, Quiznos launched a series of ads featuring Baby Bob.

Quiznos has also been known to take advantage of underground advertising phenomena in localized areas. For example, they were one of the first advertisers to put ads on the back of famous San Francisco eccentric and alien protester Frank Chu's sign.

In June 2006, Quiznos revealed their new slogan: "Eat Up". Nationally, the subs feature a Quiznos sub with steam emanating from it with the slogan, "Mmmm... toasty", spoken as "Mm mm mm mm mm ... toasty". This slogan, the aforementioned one, and a newer one, "Love what you eat", are used interchangeably. Actor Michael Clarke Duncan formerly provided the voiceover for all Quiznos commercials.

On September 18, 2006, Quiznos launched the most aggressive advertising campaign aimed at Subway. Dubbed the "Prime Rib Cheesesteak Challenge", customers were asked to compare the brand new Prime Rib Cheesesteak against Subway's Cheesesteak sandwich. The claim is that the Prime Rib Cheesesteak has twice the meat of Subway's Cheesesteak. If the customers are not satisfied, then they can fill out a form, mail the form along with their receipt, and they will receive a coupon for a free sandwich. One of the commercials features a woman saying "It's not lacking any meat, and that's what real women need".

In subsequent advertisements, Quiznos was shown competing with the fictional "Wrong Way" restaurant whose logo, name, and toaster look similar to Subway's.

Towards the end of 2007, Quiznos unveiled "Sammies", small, flatbread sandwiches available for $2.

After a Subway marketing promotion for $5 "foot long" sandwiches, Quiznos began matching the promotion. In May 2008, Quiznos was offering large deli sandwiches called "Deli Favorite Varieties" for the same price.

The Coca-Cola Company was originally the primary soft drink supplier for the franchise, until 2005. At that time, Coca-Cola went on to sign an exclusive agreement to provide soft drinks to the competing Subway franchise. As a result, Quiznos in turn signed an exclusive deal with PepsiCo (except in Canada and on college campuses that have exclusive deals with Coca-Cola) and Dr Pepper Snapple Group (to serve Dr Pepper).