restaurants

Quiznos, Popeyes Out With New Campaigns

Quiznos ad spot The campaigns just keep coming as QSR's duke it out for share of consumers shifting from costlier dining venues to fast food options.

 

The latest, from Quiznos and Popeyes Louisiana Chicken, feature a talking oven and a fictional down-home chef, respectively.

The Quiznos campaign, the first since the brand ran into implementation troubles with its 12 million sub give away, uses humor to introduce a new line of $4 Toasty Torpedo sandwiches.

The baguette-inspired sandwiches, which come on ciabatta bread, represent another extension of the lower prices program begun in January, says Quiznos CMO Rebecca Steinfort.

In two 15-second TV spots spoofing the HAL computer in "2001 A Space Odyssey," a commercial toasting oven speaks to a Quiznos chef. In the somewhat edgier version, being shown mainly after 9 pm on cable stations, the oven urges the chef to make one of the foot-long plus sandwiches ("Put it in me, Scott") and to adopt a sexy tone while repeating "only $4."

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The broad-based TV schedule (80% cable, 20% network) ends Easter week and is on hiatus during the week prior to the holiday. The campaign also includes radio spanning most of the country, out-of-home, email and online components such as trivia games relating to the commercials, reports Steinfort.

Meanwhile, Popeyes has adopted a new overall brand mascot: a fictional chef named "Annie the Chicken Queen" meant to put a human face on the brand's "bold, distinctive, unmistakably authentic taste."

In the spots, created by Popeyes' creative agency-of-record GSD&M Idea City, Annie addresses off-camera consumers from behind the counter in friendly but blunt style ("Hey, I knew what you wanted before you knew") as she prepares the chain's signature Bonafide chicken and Louisiana tenders.

"We wanted to really capture the brand's personality," said Popeyes CMO Dick Lynch, adding that a human persona should differentiate the chain, since other chicken QSRs' campaigns use animated or cartoon characters.

The 15- and 30-second TV spots, running on national cable TV, focus on several new promotions, such as two pieces of chicken and a biscuit for $1.99.

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