Experts Rank Top Restaurant TV Ads for 2010

by Jason Best, Posted Oct 15th 2010 @ 4:30PM

For most of us, trying to recall our favorite TV commercial for a restaurant is kind of like trying to recall last night's dreams-a virtually indistinct sequence of half-remembered imagery: the stringy, cheesy uplift of a steaming slice of pizza, a slow pan shot along a foot-long sub, a sizzling fajita.

But the folks at Los Angeles-based Ace Metrix have figured out how to sort through this psycho-mess to determine which commercials are most effective, and they've just released their list of the top 20 restaurant ads of 2010, according to Nation's Restaurant News. (You can see all the commercials at the Ace Metrix site.) How do they do it?

We have no idea. Here's how they describe it on their website: "We have developed a unique approach to measuring the creative effectiveness of in-market television advertising using a patent-pending measurement methodology." Ok, whatever.

Starbucks landed the number one slot, with its Earth Day-related spot encouraging customers to bring in a reusable mug for free coffee. But it was pizza giant Domino's that really scored big, with three spots in the top ten. Ironically, all were related to Domino's "anti-ad" campaign, in which the company claimed that it didn't need to rely on professional stylists and slick photography to make its pizzas look good and asked regular customers to send in their own pictures of Domino's pizzas.

When "Bryce in Minnesota" sent in a picture of a pizza with more of its toppings stuck to the lid of the box than on the pie itself, company CEO Patrick Doyle took to the airwaves to apologize, a spot that landed the number seven spot on the Ace Metrix list.

It's kind of interesting to see what a bunch of advertising eggheads rank as the best ads, but what we'd love to see is a list of the worst. No doubt mindful of its clients (past or potential), Ace Metrix is mum on this subject.

But we've got a nomination: just about any Jack-in-the-Box commercial featuring "Jack," that terrifying half-man, half-giant-ping-pong-ball hybrid. Particularly distressing is the recent one where Jack's dad (whose head looks like a hard-boiled egg) emerges from another room to inexplicably complain that his erectile dysfunction medication hasn't worn off yet. This is an ad for burgers?

Your nominations for the worst restaurant ads on TV are welcome in the Comments section.

Filed Under: Television/Film, Chain Stores / Restaurants
Tags: dominos, fast food, food ads, jack in the box, starbucks