THANK GOD. i'm not alone in thinking the quizno's ads are terrifying:

Never have I gotten so much mail on a single ad. I gather that you seek an explanation. And with great urgency. Many of you sound disturbed—as though your lives will be placed on hold until you've come to terms with these haunting creatures.

I wish I could help. But what can be said? I mean, it's a screeching, levitating prosimian in a bowler hat. You'll find no easy answers here, people.

that said, i do find the vampire rodents endearing and funny in contexts outside of the food i would like to put into my mouth without thinking i was gagging on mouse hair. tommy (and the slate article) pointed me towards www.rathergood.com, where you can see the "hell lemurs" in their own little bizarre environments, as well as a scary little clip with a saucer-eyed cartoon boy surrounded by enormous spiders, while russian-sounding techno music plays. and then britney spears comes and has a dance party. it's kind of awesome, in a nightmarish way.

so anyway, even if the "drug-addled, castrato hamsters" don't really make me want to eat a mouse sub, i do think it's pretty good advertising, as it's immediately recognizable and has gotten a lot of people talking. and though i do find it gross, in all honesty, i think it's much better than the wolf-teat-sucking ad quizno's did before. that was nast.