TV commercials for businesses which don't exist in your area.

[John DiFool]

From Jacksonville, Florida, here. I routinely get ads from a quasi-fast food chain called "Red Robin." Problem is their nearest location is in the Tampa Bay area (not that I am much tempted by their heart-attacks-on-a-plate, mind). I guess it is a national series of ads which originate at the network level and thus are broadcast nationally.

In fact feel free to fight my ignorance on which entities can throw an ad up there; sometimes I see one ad on for a split-second, only to be pre-empted by another-I assume the local cable company did that. But I'm sure there's other restaurants which have nation-wide ad campaigns that I don't ever see at all (like Jack and the Box)-maybe the network gives different feeds depending on which state they're going to.

[Amp]

I keep seeing commercials for Dave and Busters down here in Tampa, only thing is the closest one appears to be in Jacksonville. No way am I driving four to five hours to go to a grown-up arcade.

And Tampa doesn't have a Red Robin's just yet. It is slated to open Fall of this year over at the Citrus Park Mall.

[silenus]

They are establishing a name before they enter that particular market. Somebody has read a biography of Edison.

And Red Robin makes great burgers!

[Khadaji]

Sonic. Been seeing the adverts for years, but have never seen one in real life.

[Ephemera]

You're not missing anything, Khadaji. I prefer McDonalds to Sonic for food. Sonic is only good for the drinks. Mm, Ocean Water and Cherry Limeade.

[x-ray vision]

Sonic. Been seeing the adverts for years, but have never seen one in real life.
That's the one I was going to mention. We didn't have any in the North Jersey/NYC area until recently, but before that they were airing commercials for it for quite some time. Tried it when they got it here and it was unbelievably horrible.

[xnylder]

I regularly see Red Robin commercials on TV in Montreal, Quebec. The only Canadian locations are in Alberta and British Columbia. I suppose I could drive down to Buffalo, New York, but that would be quite a ways for a burger.

[AWB]

You're not missing anything, Khadaji. I prefer McDonalds to Sonic for food. Sonic is only good for the drinks. Mm, Ocean Water and Cherry Limeade.

What is this "McDonalds" of which you speak? Do they serve Irish food?

[RealityChuck]

Sonic here. The nearest one is 55 miles away.

Not TV ads, but you can see billboards for Howe Caverns hundreds of miles away from it.

[pulykamell]

What is this "McDonalds" of which you speak? Do they serve Irish food?

Don't be silly. McDonald is obviously Scottish.

[Troy McClure SF]

Seems like we in San Francisco aren't the only ones who've never seen a Sonic. Though it appears there now are a couple in the Bay Area, but that's a fairly recent development.

[voguevixen]

No way am I driving four to five hours to go to a grown-up arcade.


I have two words for you: Drunk. Skeeball.

[Jophiel]

Sonic was the big one here in the Chicago area. They had two years worth of commercials when the nearest one was downstate in Bloomington. They finally started opening a handful of them in the area a year or so ago. Personally I went once when I was passing by one and that's it -- there's one in town but it's not on my usual traveling path.

Now we get Jack-In-The-Box commercials and they're even farther away than the nearest Sonic used to be (200 miles from my house, south of Springfield).

[John DiFool]

Don't be silly. McDonald is obviously Scottish.

I hear their McHaggis Nuggets are particularly tasty.

[Superhal]

The nearest Olive Garden is like 3k miles away from me. I also get weird adverts from California businesses on Fox Sports West.

[elmwood]

Most of them?

There's many national retail and restaurant chains that steer clear of Buffalo, even though there may be locations in Rochester, Erie, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. We just got our first Chipotle a few months ago.

The biggies:

* Sonic (no locations in the region)
* Papa John's Pizza (no locations in the region)
* Schlotzsky's (no locations in the region)
* Jimmy John's (no locations in the region)
* Domino's Pizza (only a few locations)
* Pizza Hut (only a few locations)
* Quizno's Subs (only a few locations)

On top of that, commercials for Canadian chains often air on Buffalo television stations. I've recently seen ads for Harvey's, Future Shop, The Brick, and Rona, along with Canadian-market Ikea commercials. The local Fox affiliate, WUTV 29, is notorious for the number of Canadian-market commercials it airs.

Buffalonains don't seem to hate chains, considering the long waits at local Olive Garden and Applebee's locations, but the chains seem to hate the area, outside of the basics you'll find in any small town, Tim Hortons, and a few oddballs like Jack Astor, Bar Louie, The Cheesecake Factory and Hyde Park.

[Bijou Drains]

Buffalo has a low income level so that might be a reason for the lack of chains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest-income_metropolitan_statistical_areas_in_the_United_States

[Little Nemo]

I see ads for Joe's Crab Shack all the time on my local cable. The closest one is over 200 miles away in Pittsburgh.

[Little Nemo]

Most of them?

There's many national retail and restaurant chains that steer clear of Buffalo, even though there may be locations in Rochester, Erie, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. We just got our first Chipotle a few months ago.

Buffalonains don't seem to hate chains, considering the long waits at local Olive Garden and Applebee's locations, but the chains seem to hate the area, outside of the basics you'll find in any small town, Tim Hortons, and a few oddballs like Jack Astor, Bar Louie, The Cheesecake Factory and Hyde Park.Just out of curiousity, have you been to Hayes Seafood House in Clarence? I've been there a few times and I really like it.

[ZipperJJ]

There are only 3 Sonics within 20 miles of Cleveland, versus over 40 McDonalds, and I'd say that the Cleveland TV market gets as many Sonic commercials, if not more.

[kittenblue]

But conversely, I have a Red Robin not five minutes from my house and I have never, ever seen a commercial for it. Or them.

[Tom Tildrum]

Sonic also advertises heavily in the Washington DC area, but the closest one is an hour or more out in the sticks.

[elfkin477]

Seems like we in San Francisco aren't the only ones who've never seen a Sonic. Though it appears there now are a couple in the Bay Area, but that's a fairly recent development.There aren't any north of MA either.

We see ads for:
Sonic
Golden Corrals
CiCi's Pizza Buffet
Comcast (doesn't service our town)
Time Warner Cable (doesn't service our town)

If we're talking about merely inconvenient to get to, there isn't a Long John Silvers within 30 miles of here, and they advertised for years before that one or the one 55 miles away existed.

[Sigmagirl]

I went to a Schlotsky's in Texas. I can't say I care if they ever come to Ohio.

[Hal Briston]

I have two words for you: Drunk. Skeeball.You're missing a very important third word that fits in so nicely with those two:

Overhand.

[Omega Glory]

I see ads for Joe's Crab Shack all the time on my local cable. The closest one is over 200 miles away in Pittsburgh.

This one for me too; because I'm in the same general area.

Cicis
Sonic
Jack in the Box

[Acsenray]

Sonic, Red Robin, Checkers/Rally's. I see the ads all the time. Never seen an actual location.

[StarvingButStrong]

Red Lobster. There isn't a single one in Massachusetts, but they run commercials on all the Boston stations. :(

[NDP]

Red Lobster. There isn't a single one in Massachusetts, but they run commercials on all the Boston stations. :(

You're not missing anything. Besides, you already live in a part of the country that's chock full of lobster shacks and pounds that all have better seafood and are often cheaper than Red Lobster. Wanting a Red Lobster to open in Massachusetts is like somebody from Little Italy hoping that Domino's or Olive Garden would move into the neighborhood.

Anyway, in what part of the country are Joe's Crab Shacks located? I see their ads but, to the best of my knowledge, there are none in the entire Pacific Northwest.

[JoelUpchurch]

From Jacksonville, Florida, here. I routinely get ads from a quasi-fast food chain called "Red Robin." Problem is their nearest location is in the Tampa Bay area (not that I am much tempted by their heart-attacks-on-a-plate, mind). I guess it is a national series of ads which originate at the network level and thus are broadcast nationally.

Actually there is a RED Robin in Port Orange on 95 just south of Daytona Beach. I wouldn't be surprised of some of the Jacksonville stations are available on cable quite close to it.

We get Red Robin commercials in Orlando also, but Orlando and Daytona Beach are considered the same TV market.

[suranyi]

Seems like we in San Francisco aren't the only ones who've never seen a Sonic. Though it appears there now are a couple in the Bay Area, but that's a fairly recent development.

Yeah, I was surprised to see one in Hayward recently. Finally all those TV ads make sense. Previously, the closest ones I knew about were in Phoenix.

[Ranchoth]

Sonic again, for me. Particularly aggravating in that there USED to be more where I live—at least a couple—when I was a kid, and I really liked it.

I'm surprised and delighted to find out, on their website, that the closest one is only 40 miles away at the moment. They're improving!

[BobArrgh]

I hear their McHaggis Nuggets are particularly tasty.

You should try their Egg McMutton sandwich.

NDP: I think Joe's Crab Shacks started in Texas and are moving their way out from there. I have been to one in Houston, and we have a couple in the Kansas City area.

[JohnT]

You're not missing anything. Besides, you already live in a part of the country that's chock full of lobster shacks and pounds that all have better seafood and are often cheaper than Red Lobster. Wanting a Red Lobster to open in Massachusetts is like somebody from Little Italy hoping that Domino's or Olive Garden would move into the neighborhood.

Anyway, in what part of the country are Joe's Crab Shacks located? I see their ads but, to the best of my knowledge, there are none in the entire Pacific Northwest.

We have them here in San Antonio. They're rather pricey.

[Duke]

Buffalo has a low income level so that might be a reason for the lack of chains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest-income_metropolitan_statistical_areas_in_the_United_States

According to that very cite, Buffalo's per capita income ranks 117th out of 280 MSAs. There are plenty of towns, many of which are well-stocked with chains, that are worse off.

I mean, Rochester and Cleveland have plenty of chains (including the previously-mentioned Sonic, at least in Cleveland) which Buffalo doesn't have. Honestly, I just don't think national chains do well here, for whatever reason.

[JohnT]

I was going to say the same as Duke - I've lived in Knoxville and San Antonio, both places with lower HHI than Buffalo and both places with plenty of the listed chains.

[Skammer]

We've got Sonics on every corner here (it seems) and see their commercials all the time. When my brothers came down from MA for my wedding a few years back, they both were eager to go to a Sonic and a Shoney's. I hope they liked it.

We have Red Robin but I don't see commercials for them. I can't really think of a national chain that I see on TV that's not available here. Oh wait -- what's that place? Zaxby's? We don't have those.

[Acantha]

Aggravating.

I live on an island, what am I gonna do, swim for it? :dubious:

I also hate when they advertise some great new internet service or cable network I can't possibly get here. *shakes fist*

[Markxxx]

I have never seen a Sonic commercial and I live in Chicago. Could those have been cable TV inserts?

[Doug Bowe]

They could buy their advertising from a national broker. In that case you could see their ads in markets where there is no presence.

[hellpaso]

Joe's Crab Shack used to be owned by Landry's--they sold it a few years back. It, as well as Landry's, is based in the Houston area. I've always wondered about Boston Market--I've seen ads for it for years in El Paso and in the RGV--never seen a restaurant. Although I have seen it in the grocery store freezer cases.

[Hockey Monkey]

Joe's Crabshack. I really want to eat at Joe's but the nearest one is 2 hours away.

[digs]

They could buy their advertising from a national broker. In that case you could see their ads in markets where there is no presence.

WHY would an advertiser stand for this? My clients keep track of every penny of media-- and TV is so much more expensive than radio or outdoor-- I can't believe they wouldn't be screaming for "make-goods": refunds on poorly-placed ads.

[StarvingButStrong]

Probably there's some "quantity" discount type thing. As in, you may only have restaurants in reasonable distances of 70% of the area your advertising goes out to, but it costs less to buy the entire package rather than pick and choose ads in just the exact areas you need.

Sort of like buying the combo breakfast meal can save you money even if you don't plan to eat the hash browns.

[jtgain]

Just a thought: Maybe it is an appeal to people when they travel? You hear about Sonic, for example, all of the time on TV, and now you are driving down the interstate, and BAM, there's a Sonic, I must try it!

[NDP]

According to that very cite, Buffalo's per capita income ranks 117th out of 280 MSAs. There are plenty of towns, many of which are well-stocked with chains, that are worse off
Doesn't Buffalo have an older demographic than other metro areas (even one's with lower per capita income)? Maybe that has something to do with it.

I've always wondered about Boston Market--I've seen ads for it for years in El Paso and in the RGV--never seen a restaurant. Although I have seen it in the grocery store freezer cases.
Boston Markets were suddenly nearly everywhere in the US about 15 years ago. However, the company expanded too quickly and had to drastically cut back on the number of restaurants they had. They've never returned to the Pacific Northwest and I was somewhat surprised to see them still advertising on TV.

[jayjay]

Sonic. Been seeing the adverts for years, but have never seen one in real life.

There's actually one in Lancaster (out on 30 near the outlets), so it's not that far from your local tv market (I remember from old threads that you live out that way somewhere *waves vaguely westerly*).

[kenobi 65]

(Guy who works in advertising here)

Generally speaking, if you see an ad for a restaurant chain that doesn't exist in your area, the ad is part of a "national buy"...that is, the ad runs in the entire country, either on a broadcast TV network (e.g., ABC, CBS, etc.), or a cable TV network (e.g., USA, ESPN, etc.)

The other alternative for buying TV ad time is called local or "spot" buying; this lets you buy time in particular local markets.

A couple of examples of how this works:

Let's say that you want to advertise during "Law and Order" on NBC. You can buy space during the NBC broadcast, and your spot will be seen everywhere, during one of the commercial breaks which the network owns.

Or, let's say that you only want your ad to run during "Law and Order", but only in the New York and Boston markets. You would then be buying ad space from those local stations, and your ad would run during the "station breaks" (the commercial breaks which are controlled by the local stations, typically at the top and bottom of the hour).

You can make a national vs. a local buy on most cable channels, as well, though, if you're buying locally, you're probably buying the ad time from the local cable company -- you've probably noticed ad breaks on cable channels in which an ad starts, then another ad (usually for a local business) breaks in a fraction of a second later.

If you're only interested in advertising in a small number of markets, spot buying is going to be more cost effective for you -- after all, why pay to advertise in 100% of the U.S., when you only do business in 20% of it?

But, on a cost-per-viewer basis, spot buying is usually more expensive (sometimes significantly more expensive) than a national buy. So, once you get to the point where you want to advertise in, say, 50% or 60% of the U.S. (I'm pulling numbers out of a hat here, I don't know what the exact percentage is where this occurs), it actually becomes more cost-effective for you to spend on a national buy.

And, in many cases, you have more control over exactly when and where your ad will appear when you make a national buy. When you buy "spot", the local station may just throw you in where they have room.

Sonic is a great example of this. Most of Sonic's advertising budget is spent on national cable TV. As has been noted in a number of threads here over the years, Sonic does *not* have restaurants in a significant portion of the country (though they are slowly expanding). But, they're in enough of the country that it makes buying on a national basis more cost-effective than buying ad space on a local, spot basis in each market.

In addition, it appears that Sonic uses the fact that their ads are seen in markets where they don't operate to build awareness of their brand (and interest in trying it), so that, when they *do* finally expand into a market, they have ready-made awareness and interest.

[kenobi 65]

I have never seen a Sonic commercial and I live in Chicago. Could those have been cable TV inserts?

Yup; Sonic's national advertising is almost exclusively on cable channels (though they make a national cable buy, see my previous post). So, if you don't have cable, you'd likely never see a Sonic ad.

[Clawdio]

Came to mention Sonic.... but since its been done... i'll throw in Jack in the Box. Pretty sure i've never seen one in real life.

[Serenata67]

Jack in the Box, Dave and Busters...

I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them now.

[BigT]

Huh. I almost never see any. If they aren't available here, they are within an hour's driving distance. I always just assumed what happened was the same as what I see on my satellite, let alone local cable: useless ads are replaced by local ones. (Granted, some of them are so bad that I wish we had the others, but still.)