Breakfast at Subway's.

Yesterday I watched another episode of "The Pitch" on AMC. I found it scarier than any episode of "24" ever was.

           It sort of hitchhikes on "Mad Men". "The Pitch" is a reality show about two advertising agencies pitching a new account. One wins the account, the other gets a "thanks for your hard work" and goes away.

           The episode I watched was about two ad agencies --- one in Los Angeles and the other in North Carolina --- presenting their ideas for promoting a new breakfast menu at Subway's. The stated objective was to convince people 18 to 24 to get their breakfasts there. A pretty tough audience. The younger ones are strapped for money and for all of them, a good breakfast isn't what it used to be.

           The North Carolina ad agency presented two ideas that were pretty close to the ground.  One was about talking breakfast items (I forgot what the sandwich said to the scone) and the other a rap.

           The L.A. shop's presentation was snappier, about "Breakfast Zombies". I won't give away who won, in case you want to watch it on xfinity.com. But what made me nervous was the tension of it all. How many times have I been there, 100% into the game.

           The managers at the agency in North Carolina seemed hard-edged competitive. Shockingly so. Nervous and negative. The L.A. people were very laid-back, confident they knew what they were doing. At least on the outside. Inside they were probably jelly, because jam don't shake like that.

           Yes, an all-or-nothing game. Advertising is a tough business. Win or lose,though, none of the people looked like they'd trade it for a good accounting job.

           As someone said, advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.