How Quality Meats helped Mr. Submarine get freaky at fifty

There aren't many agencies that would agree, nay suggest, to make 50 individual comedy spots for a regional sandwich mini-chain, but thank goodness there is a Quality Meats.

Taking its cue from the brand’s famously corny commercials, the agency created a series of films that play with duration, theme and tone, all united by one simple aim: to make people laugh.

Using the distinctive 80’s jingle as a punchline, the films cover such surreal topics as a sub-slinging superhero saga, a noir detective obsessed with toppings, and an over-the-top musical number about pickles.

That's not to mention spots featuring Chicago sports staples like Tom Waddle, Ozzie Guillen and Jason Kipnis, alongside local ad icons such as Howard Ankin and the United Auto Insurance team - plus a lovingly terrible recreation of the infamous Eagle Man commercial - as well as some deliciously dubious generative AI work.

With everything directed by Chicago native and actor Brad Morris, and filmed over the course of two days at a Mr Submarine in Chicago suburb Downers Grove, the result is a brilliantly scrappy and full-on hilarious endless pile of sketches. shots caught up with Morris, plus Quality Meats Co-Founders and Co-CCOs Gordy Sang and Brian Siedband to find out more.

50 ads. One question. Why?

Gordy Sang: One answer. Because 50 years, so why not?

What were the initial conversations that led to the project, and how did the kernel of the idea come together?

Brian Siedband: Mr. Submarine was looking for a way to create a moment out of its 50th anniversary, which is a very impressive amount of time for a local sandwich chain to stay in business. They didn’t have a massive (or our usual) budget, but they gave us carte blanche to do what we thought was best. We can’t say no to briefs like that (even when they don’t seem to make sense for us business-wise).

Once the number was locked, what was the process of coming up with ideas for the sketches?

GS: There was a lot of ground to cover with 50. So we bulleted specific talking points: Mr. Submarine products, local Chicago celebs we had contacts with, and local businesses we wanted to collaborate with. Then we started writing individual scripts around each thing.

They didn’t have a massive (or our usual) budget, but they gave us carte blanche to do what we thought was best. We can’t say no to briefs like that (even when they don’t seem to make sense for us business-wise).

We wanted to make sure they weren’t random for the sake of random, although there was definitely some randomness that delightfully bubbled up.

Was it one creative team slowly losing their minds, or a free-for-all?

BS: It was a free-for-all playground that our “writer’s room” all threw ideas into between other things we were working on. 

I will say, 50 is a very high number.

Was there a particular spot that set the tone for the rest?

GS: The 1980s spots were the compass. They were so bad they were good, but somewhat unintentionally. We tried to accomplish a similar level of “bad,” but with intention and a self-awareness to make them more gooder.

What stipulations did you set for the concepts, such as location, cast, VFX, and so on?

BS: We limited our shooting locations to in and around a single store. We limited our casting to a rotating troupe of “players” we could use to cover all the parts. We limited VFX to be extremely basic and lo-fi. And we fully embraced AI to fill in the rest of the gaps we needed to cover.

The 1980s spots were the compass. They were so bad they were good.

Brad Morris: I tried to look at the challenges as creative positives rather than constraints. Fifty spots would be impossible for some in two days, but dialling into the fun of building a cast of great Chicago talent was a highlight.

What elements were you keen to glean from the original spots, and how did you approach that?

GS: We’re suckers for a sticky jingle, and they nailed that in 1989. So that was necessary to bookend the spots, and it was a handy tool (and crutch) to help land the jokes.

The films were shot in-house. What were the advantages of that approach, and were they specific to this project?

BS: We used our in-house production arm, Sandwiches, to tackle productions with limited budgets and fast turnarounds. It’s great because we get to roll up our sleeves and be super hands-on with everything from conception to finished product. 

We’re suckers for a sticky jingle.

Knowing the guardrails, but always being able to shape-shift based on what’s ahead. Work on the fly, and tinker right up until it’s final-final and ready to serve. Much like crafting a metaphorical fully formed food-style sandwich from the quality ingredients we have in our metaphorical kitchens.

When did Brad Morris come on board?

GS: When we first started concepting the ads. He had input and opinions from the start and throughout the process, knowing he was the guy to make it happen and make the funny funnier.

BM: Any time Gordy and Brian reach out to collaborate on something, I’m in before they even explain the idea, because they and Quality Meats are the best. But with this one, it was: “Mr. Submarine is turning 50 and they’ll do almost anything.” I think my answer was: “We should make 50 fake Mr. Submarine ads from over the years.” I guess I should’ve thought that response through a bit more before I said it.

The shoot lasted two days, which is pretty tight even for a single spot. How did you structure the schedule, and what were the priorities?

BS: 'Ambitious' would be an insanely delusional understatement for this shoot. I think we shot over 20 spots a day. We scheduled around the different setups we were using, when we were in the drive-thru, we knocked out four drive-thru spots; when we were at a table, we knocked out six table spots, that kind of thing. The priority was to make as many commercials as humanly possible with the time we had, and also to find the funny (and pivot swiftly if it wasn’t there).

BM: Two days and fifty spots with quality execution would’ve been impossible for most, but Ben Mahoney, our EP, CJ Richter, our line producer, and Chris Oswiany, our DP, are all logistical geniuses and share my attitude: “Of course we can do this.” That, combined with the full support of Quality Meats and Mr. Submarine, made the insanity of the execution a dream.

'Ambitious' would be an insanely delusional understatement for this shoot.

I also decided early on that I would build an ensemble cast and have some play employees and others play customers. Some of these actors are old friends from my Chicago improv days; others are younger, from that same world. All of them are incredible, and bringing that group together and watching them nail it was a great pleasure.

We also decided to run our tabletop production inside the live-action premises, all happening in and around a single store, so it felt like the best kind of guerrilla filmmaking.

And obviously, on top of the volume of work, we had to keep an eye on the schedules of our various Chicago celebs. Ozzie Guillen isn’t going to wait around for us to finish six more spots. He’s got Ozzie Guillen stuff to do.

What was the biggest issue on set, and how did you overcome it?

GS: Shockingly, there weren’t any on-set issues. If anything, there was a scramble to cast Pottie Skippens. We didn’t cast for specific roles, just an ensemble of employees and customers, and wanted Pottie to be a one-off character. So on the day of the shoot, at the last second, we ended up going across the street to the fine establishment of Ogden Tobacco & Vape Shop and casting the employee (as well as securing a handful of Lafufus for our respective children).

We wanted to use as many local personalities that Chicagoans would recognise as we could.

BM: Time. I’m not sure we overcame it. Maybe we fought it? Or hugged it? Maybe it was like a wrestling match with your brother that sometimes got out of hand, but then an hour later you’re eating ice cream together and watching Die Hard?

The films feature a local cast of actors, cult figures and heroes. How were they brought together?

BS: We wanted to use as many local personalities that Chicagoans would recognise as we could, personalities as classic Chicago-y as Mr. Submarine. We found them all by reaching out to people we (and Mr. Submarine) were friendly with, and then our director assembled a cast of Second City pals who were all incredibly talented and able to roll with whatever slop we threw at them.

BM: Gordy, Brian and I love actors, and Chicago celebs, and Chicago. That part was easy.

Did AI play a bigger role in the creative, or was it more of a playful experiment?

GS: We wanted to accomplish as much practically as humanly possible. But with a limited budget and two days of shooting, we were only able to get to about 43 (which is still insane). We also concepted a handful of spots that were intended to use AI from the start, specifically for scenes that involved set locations, characters or elements that would usually require many more dollars and days to pull off. 

Thank goodness for Google Veo.

We need to talk about the 'cheat code' jingles. How far did you want to push them, and what was the recording session like?

BS: Our whole approach was to use the jingle as something we could rely on to be the punchline. So even if the spot alone wasn’t great, the jingle could make it good. We didn’t have any rules for it other than maintaining the melody and the gruff soulfulness of the voice, and then making the words as surprising as possible, jamming in as many syllables as we physically could.

 It was like a wrestling match with your brother that sometimes got out of hand, but then an hour later you’re eating ice cream together and watching Die Hard?

John Merikoski, a Chicago musician we love to work with, produced it and found an amazing singer, incredibly named Ricky Liontones, who totally got what we were going for and was able to knock everything out with minimal takes.

Were there more than 50 ideas that got cut in the edit? How did you handle the post-process?

GS: Yes. We had a solid amount written, just had to prioritise on the day. 

We actually ended up producing around 54 total, but lobbed off a couple at the last minute to make it a clean 50.