Origin of Quizno’s singing hampsters?

I was trying to think of something to say about how annoying these things are, but I was speachless when I first saw them. Quizno’s has used these guys in commercials recently, which you can actually find on their corporate site. The animator who did these spongemonkeys must have been sharing whatever he was smoking with the ad department down at Q headquarters. I’ll just let the deformed rats speak for themselves.
This is, in fact, the origin of the Quizno’s singing hampsters.
Is it possible for a company to see a backlash in sales for how much they annoy their patrons at home during commercial breaks? Quizno’s is quickly walking on thin ice. Previous Q commercials had a man suckling a wolf (he had been raised by them, you see). Offended yet?