Watching the crew at Jersey Mike’s slice the meats and cheeses for a sandwich sends a “rush of emotions through a person.” That’s the sentiment expressed by Danny DeVito as he delights in the preparation of a Jersey Mike’s sub during a new advertising spot, part of the brand’s recently launched national campaign titled, “It’s a Jersey Mike’s Thing.”
“Excitement. Impatience. Baby-like wonder. Indecisive. Anticipatory chewing. Nervous pacing. Happy claps,” says DeVito, his raspy voice thick with that recognizable Jersey accent. In another commercial, he playfully nestles a cheesesteak sandwich to his ear to hear the sizzle.
“He gave us a lot of extra lines. He was willing to do anything,” said Mark Gross, co-founder and chief creative officer at Highdive Advertising. The Chicago-based firm is the new creative agency of record for Jersey Mike’s.
DeVito, the actor, writer and director known for his wide-ranging career that includes the famous portrayal of a surly New York City taxi dispatcher and an often-depraved stepfather from Philadelphia, was “such a perfect fit” for Jersey Mike’s, said Gross. He’s from Asbury Park, New Jersey, and grew up near the original sub shop that opened at the Jersey Shore in 1956, noted Gross. “His production company is called Jersey Films. He still has the accent.”
“Danny DeVito, he is who is. He doesn’t put it on,” Gross continued. “They saw the magic in him.”
The use of a celebrity in its advertising efforts is a first for Jersey Mike’s, the 2,000-plus-unit franchise that did $2.2 billion in systemwide sales in 2021. “We never thought a celebrity would be right for us,” said Rich Hope, chief marketing officer for the Manasquan, New Jersey-based brand. Competitor Subway uses a lot of professional athletes in its advertising, he noted, “so we wanted to stay away from that.”
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Jersey Mike’s CMO Rich Hope says the campaign with Danny DeVito gets people’s attention and then “highlights what we do that’s different.”
The 77-year-old DeVito, meanwhile, is “lovable and has tremendous demographic reach,” said Hope. Younger consumers love him as Frank Reynolds in FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” while “old guys like me watch ‘Taxi.’” Plus, it helps that DeVito is actually a fan of Jersey Mike’s.
“I know he loves the No. 13 because I saw him raving about it while he was eating one,” said Hope, who was on site for all the commercial shoots. The campaign launched at the beginning of the 2022-2023 college football season and includes 15- and 30-second spots, plus social video and audio clips, all of which will appear across TV, digital, website and social media channels.
Jersey Mike’s advertises heavily within sports programming, which is “still watched live, so people see the commercials,” said Hope. Its first significant TV buy was in 2014 during the NCAA Tournament “and we continue to layer on more sports.” Brand loyalists, he continued, over-index as sports fans, specifically college sports, the NFL and MLB.
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