Madison Avenue's Food Fights

The spiraling economy has made Washington, D.C. a nastier place than usual, and according to the Wall Street Journal, it's doing the same to Madison Avenue, with companies, mainly in the food industry, running more and more attack ads.

From the Journal's account, it appears that the meanest ads are being run at the low end of the market, where companies offering bargain products are fighting the hardest for dwindling consumer dollars.

"From soup companies to pizza chains, marketers are stepping up their so-called attack ads, calling out rivals by name, comparing products and poking fun at competitors," the Journal says.

"In a downturn," said Patrick Doyle, president of Domino's USA, people are being more and more careful on how they are spending their money, and more than usual you have to make sure you are breaking through and giving them a reason to buy you."

So Domino's is giving away oven-baked sandwiches to the first 1,000 customers named "Jared" -- an obvious slam on the Subway spokesdieter, Jared Fogle. Silly, but perhaps effective, especially if the Jareds bring along buddies who will order Domino's awful (but awful cheap) pizza.

Elsewhere at the economic bottom of the food chain, Campbell's is taking on Progresso by showing the rival soupmaker's product in a print ad with the words "Made with MSG." A can of Campbell's Select Harvest is shown with the words "Made with TLC." Unmentioned in the ads is the fact that other Campbell's products are loaded with MSG—monosodium glutamate—including some of its flagship condensed soups.

And in a campaign that I'm guessing was conceived by a man, Burger King has launched an offensive on McDonald's, comparing the size of a Whopper to that of a Big Mac.

"When hard times hit, the singing, dancing and emotional ads go out the window, and clients say, 'How do I nail my competitor?' " said Jack Trout, president of Trout & Partners, a marketing firm.