Skift Take
Football means food advertising this time of year and the networks that have it get the advertising dollars.
— Jason Clampet
Where do chain restaurants run national advertising campaigns when it isn’t football season? As November showed in 2018, brands will open their wallets to spend on one of two things before all others: National Football League games (mainly on Sundays) or college football games (mainly Saturdays).
It’s obvious to anyone watching the restaurant industry, but advertising on television is a huge part of the business. At the end of each month Skift Table will look at the top spenders on television advertising across all sectors for the restaurant industry.
November is a typically strong advertising period during football games, with high viewership for rivalry contests at the college level and holiday games at the pro level.
Still, a unique collection of non-sports programs snuck into the top five programs for the top five spenders. The most notable may be The Walking Dead, which was a top five program for McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Burger King.
Who, What, When and Where
Spending on non-prime time ads beat out prime-time placement by rate of six to one or greater this month. Live television, which viewers are more reluctant to time shift, makes paying a premium for advertising all the more justifiable. The brands largely promoted fast food and pizza, and targeted men split rather equally between the 18-34, 35-54, and 55 and up age groups.
One exception? Starbucks, which targeted women most of the time and aimed at the 35-54 demo.
Casual dining, while placing in the top twenty of restaurants ad spends for the month, couldn’t crack the top 10. Casual came in at 13, 15, and 17: Applebee’s ($11.9m), Olive Garden ($9.6m), and Outback Steakhouse ($8.7m), respectively.
Among the top ten are three Yum! Brands: Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC. No other parent company came close to Yum’s spend; Inspire Brands’s Arby’s, Sonic, and Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants were ranked 11, 12, and 24 in spending.
We did expect to see more from Papa John’s as the brand has attempted to right its ship by sending a clear message that it is no longer the brand of founder and former CEO and Chairman John Schnatter. It spent just over $8 million airing 13 different ads under 6,000 times in November.
Information is provided by TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv.
Top Spending by Brands
| Brand | Airings | Primetime Airings | Estimated Spend | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald’s | 14,779 | 2290 | $52,907,297 | Quick Serve |
| Taco Bell | 15,869 | 2998 | $42,794,400 | Quick Serve |
| Burger King | 15,950 | 2876 | $31,990,326 | Quick Serve |
| Domino’s | 19,213 | 4307 | $31,822,266 | Pizza |
| Pizza Hut | 8429 | 1524 | $23,652,895 | Pizza |
| Wendy’s | 8990 | 1687 | $22,911,936 | Quick Serve |
| KFC | 7555 | 1299 | $21,929,100 | Quick Serve |
| Starbucks | 1449 | 280 | $19,891,697 | Quick Serve |
| Subway | 6199 | 1100 | $19,285,061 | Quick Serve |
| Little Caesars Pizza | 11,486 | 2050 | $14,926,487 | Pizza |
Most-Run Ads by Brand
Below are the top five spending restaurant brands in November 2018, including a video of the top advertisement each brand ran, as well as the top five programs and the top five networks each brand used.
1. McDonalds
Top Ad: Half-Court Challenge
| Top Program | Top Network |
|---|---|
| NFL Football | CBS |
| College Football | FOX |
| SpongeBob SquarePants | NBC |
| The Walking Dead | ESPN |
| The Big Bang Theory | ABC |
2. Taco Bell
Top Ad: Xbox One X Sweepstakes
| Top Program | Top Network |
|---|---|
| College Football | ESPN |
| NFL Football | FOX |
| NBA Basketball | ABC |
| The Walking Dead | ESPN2 |
| Ridiculousness | MTV |
3. Burger King
Top Ad: Crazy Deal
| Top Program | Top Network |
|---|---|
| NFL Football | FOX |
| College Football | ESPN |
| NBA Basketball | AMC |
| The Walking Dead | MTV |
| South Park | ABC |
4. Dominos
Top Ad: Pizza Night Hero
| Top Program | Top Network |
|---|---|
| NFL Football | FOX |
| College Football | ESPN |
| SportsCenter | CBS |
| College Basketball | ABC |
| The Office | Telemundo |
5. Pizza Hut
Top Ad: Best Sides
| Top Program | Top Network |
|---|---|
| College Football | FOX |
| NFL Football | CBS |
| Law & Order SVU | ABC |
| The Office | ESPN |
| Keeping Up with the Kardashians | USA Network |
Information is provided by TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv.
