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"We love the subs!" That refrain might be stored away in a section of your cerebral cortex reserved for the obnoxious or merely annoying. If you somehow missed the ads from Quiznos Sub, get up to speed and check out the two spots -- "We love the subs" and "Coupon." The animated animals with disturbingly human-like mouths sing a high-pitched ode to the toasted sandwiches while making a distinctive impact on TV viewers. Putting aside questions as to whether they're the most annoying ads ever conceived, many are wondering what those things are. A search on Quiznos commercials led to Ad-rag.com. This site for ad industry pros serves up this thread, with Mad Ave types offering their two cents on the spots. Initial responses indicated the animals were rats; others argued they were little monkeys or bush babies. Most ad pros agreed on their dislike for the content, but offered begrudging props to Quiznos for creating a load of buzz around its brand. No closer to an answer, we soldiered on through search results, until we spotted a series of columns by Chicago Sun-Times business columnist Lewis Lazare. In his first column devoted to the matter, Lazare outs the animals as
"South American midget monkeys -- which many viewers already have mistaken for deformed mice or rats." His second column on Quiznos is devoted to reader feedback and the reactions are similar to the vitriol at Ad-rag. In an enlightening third column on the subject, the Chief Marketing Officer of Quiznos defends the company's use of animated singing midget monkeys, verifying that they are indeed not rats. Quiznos' marketing chief goes on to say that the ads are aimed at a younger audience, explaining why anyone over 35 can't find the remote fast enough when the monkeys begin their screeching. Taking what we'd
learned from these sources, we plugged "tarsiers" into Yahoo! search and found indisputable evidence incriminating the tiny primate as the animal behind the Quiznos campaign. Learn more about these mini monkeys at primates.com and the Animal Diversity Web, or just try image search for pictures of the bug-eyed tree dwellers. Fans of the Quiznos ads can check out the work of creator Joel Veitch at rathergood.com. Just don't blame us if you end up humming "We Like
the Moon."
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