Quiznos Spongmonkeys Superbowl Ad

The 2004 Quiznos Super Bowl ad featuring those strange singing “spongmonkeys” looked like something made at 3 a.m. on the internet. It broke every rule of polish and convention. But it did something most million-dollar ads can’t do: everyone remembered it.

Why it worked

• It was new, weird, and impossible to ignore
• It triggered curiosity—people talked just to ask “what did I just see?”
• Pattern-breaking grabs instant attention
• It built brand recall because nothing else looked or sounded like it

Real-world examples

• Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” reset boring soap ads
• Dollar Shave Club’s first video blew up with humor and Internet-style editing
• Skittles’ “Taste the Rainbow” weirdness made nonsense memorable
• Liquid Death uses absurdity to sell… canned water