There is a football game scheduled this weekend that will prompt Americans to eat a projected 1.3 billion chicken wings, order at least 23 million feet of pizza and, hopefully, pack any restaurant and bar with a TV to quaff a beverage or two.
But for restaurant chains, the season of Super Bowl is also a time for splashy advertising to capture the attention of the projected 100 million-plus sets of eyeballs that will be watching on various devices.
This year, it’s not just about game day. Several brands are building suspense for a big reveal during Super Bowl ads. They are stretching the marketing season out over several weeks before the event and giving reason for viewers to delay a fridge run for more beer during the anticipated commercials to come.
Jack in the Box Inc., for example, is using the Super Bowl to launch a marketing campaign around a “Declaration of Delicious” theme designed to highlight a menu overhaul that has resulted in improvements to 29 menu items, a move company officials have been talking about for about a year.
Last month the chain debuted the new Double Jack Burger showcasing the upgrades, including two all-beef patties, two slices of American cheese, fresh lettuce and tomato, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions and “real mayonnaise” on new, buttery, split-top buns. The mayo replaces Jack in the Box’s previous signature onion mayo sauce.
During the Super Bowl, Jack in the Box is planning “a very big, mouthwatering announcement,” which the chain has been hinting at in teaser ads this week featuring mascot Jack in full George Washington-crossing-the-Delaware pose.
It’s a bit of a mashup of historical metaphors, given that the iconic painting refers to an attack against Hessian forces in the Battle of Trenton. And the Jack in the Box pre-Big Game teaser warns that “the delicious are coming,” more reminiscent of Paul Revere’s alert of the approach of British forces before the Battle of Lexington.
But no need for semantics. It’s a Super Bowl ad.
The idea is that, like the American revolution, Jack in the Box’s menu upgrades are a defining moment in American history, said Iwona Alter, the brand’s vice president of product marketing and innovation.
“We’re putting a mark in the sand,” she said. “We are making a statement that we stand for quality or craveable food, and our burgers are getting better.”
In addition, on Sunday, Jack in the Box’s Twitter channel will be taken over by Nathaniel Caw, the brand’s official “spokeseagle,” who will live tweet throughout the day.
Introducing the world’s first spokeseagle. Well, bald spokeseagle, that is. #DeclarationOfDelicioushttps://t.co/uhvn7ymIJY
— Jack in the Box (@JackBox) February 1, 2016
KFC will use the Super Bowl for the reveal of a new celebrity playing the Colonel.
Norm MacDonald is saying his goodbyes in teaser ads this week that make his six months as Colonel Sanders seem like a drug-induced dream.
Rather than placing an ad during the CBS broadcast of the game, however, KFC bought a spot during the pre-game broadcast to remind viewers to stock up on KFC before kickoff. The ad will also appear during the CBS livestream, the company said.
Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Papa John's prepare for game day
Taco Bell has also been building anticipation for its big reveal during a Super Bowl ad on Sunday: a new addition to the menu that the company is calling its biggest food creation yet.
First there was the release in January of a comically “redacted” press release about the mystery menu item. This week, the chain invited customers to pre-order the new item, even though they still wouldn’t know what it is.
In teaser ads this week, actors and celebrities were given green bricks to hold during the filming of the commercial, because the new food item was being kept so secret even they couldn’t be told what it is.
Presumably, the secret will be out on Saturday, when customers can pick up their pre-ordered mystery menu item and take to social media.
By game time on Sunday, the world may already know what Taco Bell is adding to the menu, but the chain will already have benefited from the expected waves of buzz that will ripple though the various social platforms with Instagrammed photos, Tweeted reports and Periscoped first bites.
Of course, Super Bowl Sunday is a big day for the leading pizza chains.
Pizza Hut, for example, expects to sell more than 2 million pizzas and 5 million wings. That’s 23 million feet of pizza, which the chain notes is enough to cross the Golden Gate Bridge more than 1,200 times. And about 30 percent of those orders will come from a mobile device, the chain said.
Because the Big Game is being played in the Golden State, Pizza Hut is going for the gold with the offer of a Golden Garlic Knots Pizza, the cheese-stuffed-garlic-knot-crusted pie launched earlier this year, except this one will be garnished with more than $100 worth of edible 24-karat gold flakes, presumably along with a drizzle of Honey Sriracha or extra smoked bacon, if requested.
Customers who order the Stuffed Garlic Knots Pizza on Sunday will have a chance to win one of 50 limited-edition golden versions, which is delivered in a gold box along with a $100 Pizza Hut gold gift card.
Who better to share the news on social media than wide receiver Golden Tate, who plays for the Detroit Lions and presumably will have time on his hands this week. Tate will be promoting the Pizza Hut offer via social media with the hashtag #GoldenPizza.
@PizzaHut isn’t holding back for #TheBigGame. This #GoldenPizza is unreal pic.twitter.com/f4uqiTONxe
— Golden Tate (@ShowtimeTate) February 1, 2016
Papa John’s, the official pizza sponsor of the National Football League and Super Bowl 50, is offering a free pizza on the Monday after the Super Bowl through Feb. 28 to those who order $15 or more online in the week leading up to and including Sunday.
Ads this week have featured the traditional ensemble of Peyton Manning, a Papa John’s franchisee, Joe Montana and J.J. Watt, along with the chain’s founder and CEO John Schnatter.
Domino’s Pizza, it should be noted, has never advertised during the Super Bowl.
“We’ve never had to!” said Tim McIntyre, Domino’s vice president of communications. That tradition will remain in place this year.
But Domino’s did announce Wednesday that customers will now be able to order pizza using Alexa, the voice of the Amazon Echo, a home automation controller.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
