Quizno's Uses Commercial to Engage Consumers Online

Quizno's recently launched a campaign advertising their $5 Double Cheesesteak Sub. They are using the Web and social media to get users to engage with their TV ad.

Users can go to QuiznosToaster.com and answer trivia questions that come from the hidden clues on the TV ad. Once users answer questions online, they are qualified for a chance to win prizes.

Quizno's also posted the ad on YouTube and Facebook encouraging users to go to these sites, watch the ad, and pause it to find hidden clues. Quizno's is also tweeting about the contest on Twitter (@QuiznosToaster).

The ad is not only intended to promote Quizono's new product, but to also reinforce the brand's image as "edgy, provocative and humerous."

I think this is a great way for Quizno's to connect with consumers, give them a chance to win prizes, and spread their brand using social media.

Read the full article here.

Are Pistachios 'Bringing Sexy Back'?

Everyone knows the old saying "sex sells." We are constantly bombarded with sexy car commercials, clothing ads, and the seductive blondes and brunettes on the Axe commercials selling hair gel and body wash to men.

One product with no sex appeal whatsoever is taking this old saying and hopes to turn it into media attention, as well as profits.

The pistachio industry is hoping that their new ad campaign with a "sex sells" attitude will get consumers thinking about, and buying, their product. The ads feature unknown, as well as somewhat-known, people opening pistachios in their own unique way.

Bruce Horovitz, the USA Today journalist who wrote this article, says the pistachio industry wants consumers to think less about last spring's pistachio recall and more about sex. "Make that kinky sex. Like, say, an honest-to-goodness dominatrix — who formerly worked her trade in Los Angeles — cracking open a pistachio with her whip. A voice-over explains: 'A dominatrix does it on command.'

Or Levi Johnston, the media-hungry father of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's out-of-wedlock grandchild, starring in his first TV spot. In it, he's standing next to a bodyguard as a voice-over notes: 'Now, Levi does it with protection,' " Horovitz says.

Other d-list celebs are Chris Knight (from The Brady Bunch), and wife, Adrianne Curry (from America's Next Top Model).

(Watch Levi's YouTube ad here.)

This is the first time the pistachio industry has broadcasted ads nationally. Their $15 million investment is aimed at getting viral attention online in the new world of marketing.

There is even a separate YouTube contest where viewers can submit their own videos of cracking open a pistachio. The video that wins will get $25,000 and a national airing.

I think that the pistachio industry may be taking the obvious way out. Instead of thinking of new ways to gain attention for their product, they are making it sexy featuring wannabe celebrities in their ads. Since pistachios are more expensive than most nuts, they should go about their advertising and marketing to their target market and those who will buy their product, which isn't pre-pubescent boys.

Read the full article here.