Super Bowl Ads 2014: Subway Nabs Last-Minute 30-Second Spot to Promote its Fritos Chicken Enchilada
In a last minute decision, Subway decided they wanted the whole enchilada -- and took a bite out of Super Bowl advertising by buying a 30-second spot, appropriately named "Crunch Time," to promote its newest product, the Fritos Chicken Enchilada.
According to Ad Age, the move didn't come as much of a surprise, considering it made a similar last-minute move in last year's Super Bowl. Initially, CMO Tony Pace said that the chain had no plans to buy into the game until Friday evening.
"There were a lot of folks that for whatever reason were backing out, so it's something we decided to take advantage of," Pace told Ad Age.
Did he get a last-minute deal on the ad? We may never know -- "he declined to comment on whether the spot was bought at a big discount, saying only that the move was a good valuation for the chain."
Typically, it costs four million dollars to get a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.
For Super Bowl XLVII, Subway had two spots, Ad Age points out -- one celebrating spokesman Jared Fogle's 15th year anniversary and the other for its well-known $5 Footlong promotion. While Fogle isn't in this year's spot, retired Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps makes an appearance, proclaiming that he "loves the crunch." Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno also endorses the Fritos Chicken Enchilada and appears in the ad, saying "You've got to taste it, to believe it."
The spot in the game for Super Bowl XLVIII is already on air, kicking off the month of February, which according to Pace is the best time because "the beginning of the month is typically the new product and promotion window." He also said "it made sense to promote the new product to a wide audience, even if that ad is already out there."
For the third year in a row, the sandwich giant's Super Bowl promotions include its sponsorship of the ESPN Green Room, as well as ESPN Radio, which it has been a longtime sponsor, "but has been doing additional promotion in the lead-up to the Super Bowl."
"Subway, the second largest fast-food advertiser in the U.S. after McDonald's, also appears to be taking a page from Taco Bell's playbook by teaming up with PepsiCo and incorporating Fritos," Ad Age reports. "Taco Bell's wildly successful Doritos Locos Taco was a product developed with Frito-Lay; it's also offered the Beefy Crunch Burrito, which has Fritos."