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LOUISVILLE, KY. -- KFC's pitchman Jason Alexander will fly the coop before the chicken chain launches new advertising in August. KFC made the decision last month to retool its creative [...]

Television, which made its debut in 1945, reached maturity during the 1950s at approximately the time when fast food restaurant chains were coming into existence and the restaurant industry hitched their star to television advertising. Restaurants have used celebrities, cartoon characters, fictional characters and even restaurant chain owners to popularize their restaurants and send their messages to the public. Resultingly, the television advertising spokesperson has become the most important marketing figure for the fast food restaurant industry., Television made its debut in 1945, and within 10 years it had become the leading medium for national advertising. The meteoric rise of the medium into the hearts and minds [...]

Fast food chain Wendy's International has selected Options Media Group Holdings, Inc., to help roll out a mobile couponing campaign. Consumers in the Northeast who opt in for mobile coupons [...]

Wendy's International, Inc. has named The Kaplan Thaler Group as its lead creative agency. The work includes advertising, media planning, digital marketing and restaurant activation. Five agencies competed in the [...]

Marketers searching for a new method to generate buzz about their wares are flocking to the one place that guarantees a captive audience and sells it all- More and more [...]

Chicago shop wins U.S. and international promo accounts. Burger King this month will break the first work from its new promotion agency of record, Chicago-based DraftWorldwide. The QSR giant selected [...]

The last time I set eyes upon the 'The Mad Dr. Cravin,' a car was running over him after he had failed yet again to hijack a Domino's pizza delivery. [...]

OAK BROOK, ILL. -- McDonald's Corp. Kicked off a two-week 'Teletubbies Hugs' Happy Meal promotion April 14, a premium giveaway that features plus clip-ons fashioned after the Teletubbies characters -- [...]

MIAMI -- Burger King agreed to change a radio spot for its bacon-cheddar Whopper after a Muslim organization received calls complaining that the ad was offensive. The spot targeted African-Americans [...]

McDonald's Corp. will launch a 'Passport to Kenya' sweepstakes Feb. 25, joining other restaurants with promotions targeting African-Americans during February's Black History Month. Denny's restaurants already is conducting its first [...]

Score one for Pizza Hut in its recent piebashing brouhaha with arch-rival Papa John's. A federal judge ruled that Papa John's must fork over $468,000 in damages and cease and [...]

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- Schlotzsky's Inc. will break new network TV ads in March to differentiate its product from sandwich-segment competitors as it seeks to lure first-time customers into its stores. [...]

PITTSBURGH -- Pizza Outlet is airing broadcast ads promoting free side orders during a 'One, Two, Free' campaign. The offer is for one large pizza, two toppings, and a choice [...]

Here's a great TV commercial: A guy wakes up on the morning of New Year's Day. He reaches for the aspirin, because apparently he partied too hard the night before. [...]

MOUNT OLIVE TWP., N.J. -- In case any of the marketing executives at the nation's top burger chains stay awake at night wondering about the power of their advertising, rest [...]

Not since Bill Clinton wrapped his big lips around those McDonald's burgers has a quick-serve operator received more free publicity than the mileage Pizza Hut is enjoying because of another [...]

ANN ARBOR, MICH. -- Domino's Pizza is conducting a closed review for the national creative portion of its estimated $120 million ad account and expects to announce results by the [...]

PITTSBURGH -- Pizza Outlet launched three 60-second radio ads promoting its large pizza with unlimited toppings under the tag, 'Delivering great taste, and lots of it.' The spots focus on [...]

ATLANTA -- Arby's is preparing to break a 'mini-campaign' of two 30-second TV spots in October using testimonials from real customers and the tag, 'Good Taste Endures' to mark the [...]

MIAMI -- Burger King Corp. launched a tie-in to college football with a 'Win Your Way' scratch-off game that offers food and merchandise prizes and an opportunity for customers to [...]

In the beginning was the wheel, and then came marketing to reinvent it over and over again. That's what a marketing professor told me years ago. His point was that [...]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Domino's Pizza plans to air interactive TV ads here during a 'Star Trek' marathon Aug. 21 and 22 on UPN network affiliate KBHK-TV and may expand such [...]

OAK BROOK, ILL. -- McDonald's Corp. will offer three $1 million prizes and eight Happy Meal toys that connect into a 15-inch tall 'Gadget Man' as part of its tie-in [...]

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA -- After queries by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, McDonald's Corp. said it would discontinue advertising its 'grilled chicken burger' as a grilled product. The chicken patty [...]

LAGUNA HILLS, CALIF. -- Mexican quick-serve operator Del Taco chose WongDoody as its new agency of record and expects the first campaign from the agency to break in mid-June. WongDoody, [...]

KANSAS CITY, MO. -- Breaking away from the pack of businesses trying to advertise across the small screens of phones and computers, McDonald's operators here asked patrons to submit two-word [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A 5-story-tall taco looms over motorists as they travel a busy freeway in Los Angeles, an example of how a few restaurant chains are growing more innovative with [...]

As if rising commodity costs and increased competition were not posing enough worries for big quick-service chains, their costly expenditures for television advertising now may be yielding a dwindling response [...]

Foodservice executives who still believed that taking a swipe at competitors in an ad campaign was a risk-free move were reminded recently of the dangers of making rivals the butt [...]

BALTIMORE -- Medal winners usually are the only Olympic athletes who win product endorsements, but Subway restaurants here are breaking with tradition by using local hero and Olympic figure skater [...]

ANN ARBOR, MICH. -- As other leaders in the pizza segment increase their reliance on discounts, Domino's Pizza has resumed selling three one-topping pies for $5 each after quietly ending [...]

After successfully raising prices over the past two years with premium products like salads and oversized sandwiches, fast feeders are finding that customers still crave the good deals promised by [...]

DALLAS -- Dickey's Barbecue Pit, a 64-unit fast-casual chain based here, has dropped TV from its marketing mix for the first time in nearly 15 years. Instead, the chain is [...]

OAK BROOK, ILL. -- McDonald's Corp., bolstered by a super-sized leap in sales, is tinkering with an automated cooking system for its burgers and fries, preparing to unveil a new [...]

IRVINE, CALIF. -- El Pollo Loco is heading in a new strategic-marketing direction, focusing on meal preparation and quality of its flame-grilled chicken in new broadcast ads designed to differentiate [...]

DUBLIN, OHIO -- Wendy's International Inc. said that it wouldn't change the focus of future TV spots even though the death of founder Dave Thomas removed its most cherished marketing [...]

Denver-area McDonald's restaurants are conducting a minority-oriented marketing campaign. The campaign results from a request by minority McDonald's owners to work with an agency specializing in minority marketing. The owners, in cooperation with the Rocky Mountain Advertising Cooperative Assn (RMACA), contracted with The Solis Group. RMACA president Chuck O'Rourke explained that the owners' goal is to benefit minority communities, in addition to their restaurants., DENVER -- When African-Americans here gather for Gospel Fest this month, the musical event will be another product of the minority marketing campaign sponsored by area McDonald's restaurants. The campaign [...]

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Despite the success of the Whataguy campaign, Whataburger Inc. shelved the commercials earlier this year in order to move beyond a gimmicky approach and highlight the [...]

SAN DIEGO -- In a new TV commercial, Jack in the Box chief executive 'Jack' is not amused by a prototype ad video of sexy, Spice Girls-like singer-dancers strutting their [...]

The burger-and-pizza segments are the battlegrounds for two advertising campaigns to support new menu items that are big on size and take aggressive stances against the competition. The first of [...]

McDonald's Corp has changed its advertising agency from Leo Burnett Co. to DDB Needham Chicago. The fast food chain operation is attempting to boost its slower sales by transferring its approximately $400 million advertising account. Sales have lagged since its Campaign 55, which was not successful, and McDonald's USA Chmn Jack Greenberg changed agencies when competitors began to gain market share., OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Selling itself with the slogan, 'Did somebody say, `McDonald's?'' advertising agency DDB Needham Chicago has won back the bulk of the world's largest restaurant-advertising account from [...]

Hill, Holliday/Atschiller has launched an advertising campaign for Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits that is aimed at a group of 30 million people that they call 'flavor-seekers.' According to Popeye's VP Tom Whitley, these flavor seekers seek out food that is flavorful, and cut across all demographic groups. The ad campaign pokes fun at flavor-avoiders, the natural enemy of flavor seekers., The diverse atmosphere of the 1990s is helping many groups that previously were kept in the shadows to have a public voice. Now, Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits is hoping to [...]

Del Taco rehired the Irvine, CA-based Italia/Gal advertising agency and the spokesperson for the chain developed by Italia/Gal, Todd. Todd is fast talking, exuberant and self-confident, which makes him appealing to customers, according to agency CEO Ken Gal. Todd is portrayed by Los Angeles, CA-based actor/comedian Chris Soldevilla., LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. -- As a spokesman, Del Taco's 'Todd' character is no Dave Thomas. And that is exactly why he's so believable, according to Ken Gal, chairman and chief [...]

Burger King Corp.'s (BK) newest television advertising campaign uses a back-to-basics approach focusing on the food itself. BK brand communications director Jeff Bonasia says that the new ads better define BK's personality as a chain that offers good food and provides value to its customers. The ad campaign is evocative of BK's new emphasis on its core products of hamburgers, french fries and soft drinks. Ammirati Puris Lintas developed the ad campaign., MIAMI -- There are no happy burger-eating families, famous athletes, celebrities or animated characters in Burger King's new television ads. In what some might view as a radical move for [...]

CKE Restaurants Inc's new television commercials for the Carl's Jr. fast-food chain defy advertising conventions but are proving to be successful. One ad shows ketchup from a hamburger splattering on a basketball player's new shoes. Another shows ketchup from a window washer's hamburger splattering on a pigeon's head. CKE's Neil Naroff said that that ads have immediately improved Carl's Jr.'s business., ANAHEIM, Calif. - Bringing an 'in your face' slant to fastfood marketing, the Carl's Jr. chain defied conventional TV-ad formulas this spring by depicting wayward ketchup from a condiment-laden burger [...]

Togo's new advertising campaign will focus on the lighter side of eating healthy fast food. The Campbell, CA-based sandwich shop chain with 163 units selected San Francisco, CA-based advertising agency Darien and Kilburg to provide the amusing 'Dangerous Jobs' campaign. The first television advertisement will air on Dec 31, 1994. Togo's Eatery spends 1.5% of its sales on its marketing and advertising campaigns., CAMPBELL, Calif. -- In the Line of Tacos, a television commercial spoofing President Clinton's publicized penchant for fast food and the cinematic presidential-assassination thriller, 'In the Line of Fire,' recently [...]

Certain US fast food restaurants have begun advertising along the hockey rinks in Moscow, Russia. McDonald's Corp and Little Caesars have advertisements in the rinks although Little Caesars has not begun operating in Russia. These promotions by US firms and US hockey teams have increased attendance at the Russian Penguins hockey team games from 300 people to 6,000 people. Other advertisers include Baskin-Robbins, Seagrams and Coca-Cola., Coast to Coast thwacks a slap shot halfway around the world this week to bring you news about a slick-as-ice new frontier in foodservice marketing. Would you believe the international [...]

Competition between KFC and Boston Chicken has intensified in the Denver, CO market where the two companies have run commercials that compare their products by name. KFC produced a television commercial that cited an independent taste test that showed customers preferred KFC to Boston Chicken by a two to one margin. Boston Chicken issued an advertisement in response that emphasized KFC's use of monosodium glutamate in its recipe for chicken., DENVER -- While the little guys are growing and making a name for themselves in their regions, KFC and Boston Chicken are squabbling over who is king of rotisserie. The [...]