LOS ANGELES Quiznos has awarded creative chores on its $80 million ad account to MDC-owned Cliff Freeman and Partners, confirmed client CMO Steve Provost.

"We looked primarily at small shops that were privately held, like us, and where we'd be the second- or third-largest account at the agency," Provost said. "Cliff blew us away with the freshness of his work."

Provost, who arrived at the company in March from Yum! Brands, where he had been chief marketing and food innovation officer, said he was a fan of the agency's work for Little Caesars and Wendy's. (Cliff Freeman had previously worked for Quiznos in the 1990s.)

"As a twenty year vet, I'd say that was the most exciting work in the category in the '80s and '90s—but we weren't hiring them for their history, but for their future," said Provost.

Provost said he conducted the whole review in "six or seven weeks," but declined to identify other contenders. Cliff Freeman's first work for the sandwich chain will break by year's end, he said.

The New York shop takes over for WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago, which split with the client in February.

Topolewski, an independent shop in Ferndale, Mich., run by former BBDO Detroit CCO Gary Topolewski, crafted Quiznos' current TV spots.

Media buying and planning, handled by Interpublic Group's Initiative, were not in review.

The Denver-based client, which operates more than 3,000 restaurants nationwide, spent $80 million in measured media in 2006, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.