Quiznos convinced its suppliers to impose a “sourcing fee” of up to 30% that delivered additional revenue to corporate but resulted in “an unreasonable burden on the franchisees’ cost of goods,” said Gordon, who’d testify as an expert witness in subsequent franchisee suits against corporate. “Because of that, the franchisees had [to impose] prices that were astronomically higher than Jimmy John’s or Subway or any of those guys. That is the reason the franchisees failed so quickly.”
One of those failed franchisees was a man named Baber Vhupinder who, distraught over his losses, took his own life inside of his restaurant in 2006. The note he left behind concluded with: “I deeply regret getting into Quiznos. I wish I had never heard of them.”
All attention is good attention
Overcoming a history like that won’t be easy. But one mercy for the company, according to George Mason University School of Business marketing professor Russell Abratt, is that while the chain has burned bridges with franchisees, “I don’t think that many of its loyal consumer base are aware of these legal battles,” he said. “There are consumers that will support the Quiznos brand.”
Those consumers, however, will still need to be told that Quiznos wants their business back. And that job has fallen to the Spongmonkeys.
One curiosity of the creatures’ return is that they were so polarizing when they first debuted in 2004. As Bob Gray wrote in his 2014 book Great Brand Blunders, “What Quiznos hadn’t bargained for was how negatively the Spongmonkeys would be perceived by many consumers. While the raw quirkiness of the work struck a chord with a young audience, many older consumers didn’t much like the idea of a restaurant chain promoting itself using character that reminded them of rats.”
So why would a chain bring back mascots that freak out a big portion of its customer base? “[Quiznos] already owns it, so there’s no cost,” ventured Bret Bero, assistant professor of practice in the management division of Babson College. “What they know is that it’s controversial—it draws attention.”
And that seems to be the point. Quiznos’ website features a page that lets visitors reacting to the mascots to vote Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em. The object, clearly, is generating buzz, whatever the sort.
“We need to be loud with our messaging,” Philip explained. “Loud in a way that our message is so absurd, shareable and engageable.”
Rodents aside, the website has also taken hat in hand to apologize for the brand’s disappearance. “It’s harder to find a Quiznos these days, and we’re here to fix that,” the copy intones. “Because it’s a new day, and we’re bringing Quiznos back.”
