Quick-serve restaurants had a strong TV ad presence once again, as the top brand industry in Q3 2023 by household ad impressions (as it was in Q3 2022). QSR TV ads had 6.4% more impressions than the next most-seen industry, automakers. The secret sauce for QSRs? Laughs.
Humor was prevalent among QSR ads in Q3, with viewers finding 95% of all ads in the category funny to some degree.
Brands paired celebrities with product punchlines to successfully land humor – as seen among the top three funniest QSR ads from Q3, from Jimmy John’s, Jack in the Box and Jersey Mike’s. Sonic Drive-In and Arby’s rounded out the top five with comical cultural references (like Kelis’s “Milkshake”) and/or product close-ups that drove above-norm levels of top-2 box purchase intent.
Other highlights from QSR TV advertising in Q3:
- Just 27% of all Q3 video ads scored on the “funny” emotion, while 95% did for QSR brands.
- Celebrities like Brad Garrett (Jimmy John’s), Paul Lieberstein (Jack In the Box) and Danny DeVito (Jersey Mike’s) helped push laughs, leaning in part on past characters to connect with viewers.
- Even with a celebrity emphasis, viewers felt the single best thing about three of the five funniest QSR ads was the product itself (the food).
- Football was a big winner for QSR advertising, since the NFL (4.88%) and college football (3.2%) delivered the most TV ad impressions for the industry, by a significant margin.
- While QSRs emphasized sports programming and ESPN accounted for the largest share of QSR TV ad impressions (5.81%), ION was actually the No. 2 network for the industry, with 4.86% of impressions primarily on re-air programs.
That’s just an appetizer for the biggest stories around TV advertising in Q3. Download the 2023 Q3 TV Transparency report from iSpot to sink your teeth into the latest TV ad trends, opportunities and data-driven insights to navigate today’s changing landscape.