13970: Jared & Joe Break Up.

AgencySpy published a post titled, “The Martin Agency Introduces $4.99 Footlongs for Subway,” noting the campaign is the final work for the sandwich chain from the White advertising agency. First of all, the decision to dump The Martin Agency is warranted, as the work is mediocre and awful. Regardless, the partnership also offered opportunities for promotional tie-ins featuring Jared Fogle and former Chief Creative Officer Joe Alexander. It could have led to more comedic material than the White advertising agency’s iconic GEICO campaign.

12992: Subway Exclusivity Not Fresh.

Advertising Age spotlighted the new Subway campaign from BBDO, which plays off the sandwich chain’s history. Does anybody really give a shit about Subway’s White-bread founders? Telling this story relegates minorities to bit players (i.e., crew members or customers)—despite Subway’s alleged commitment to diversity. If Subway truly values “the cultural richness and breadth of ideas resulting from the diversity that is fostered in who we are and what we do,” why did it hire an exclusively White advertising agency where diversity is a dream deferred and denied? There’s nothing fresh about the hypocrisy demonstrated here.

Behind Subway’s Post-Jared Strategy: No More Discount Ads, Fewer Celebs

Sandwich Chain Breaks New Campaign Harkening Back to Its 1965 Founding

By E.J. Schultz

As it stakes out a new brand positioning that is less about discounts and more about the food, Subway is looking backwards—all the way to the sandwich chain’s founding in 1965.

A new campaign by new agency BBDO tells the story of how Subway founders Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck started the chain with a simple idea of creating fresh sandwiches at a “time when artificial foods and gimmicks were all the rage.” The campaign—set to debut Dec. 27 during NFL programming—marks the beginning of a significant strategy shift for Subway, which is seeking to recover from sluggish sales trends and PR woes related to the downfall of former pitchman Jared Fogle.

The new approach will include fewer celebrities and less talk about discounts. For instance, the oft-used “Five Dollar Footlong” jingle will be eliminated. Also, the chain’s “Famous Fans” line-up of star endorsers, which in recent years has included celebs like Olympian Michael Phelps, has been retired. And while Subway will keep its “fresh” positioning, the chain will talk about fresh in a new way, emphasizing moves like a planned transition away from using meat sourced from animals treated with antibiotics.

“Fresh as a subject has really changed from when we introduced it 15 years ago when it was about making the sandwiches fresh and having fresh produce,” said Chief Advertising Officer Chris Carroll. Now, he said, fresh is more about what goes into the ingredients, including concerns about antibiotic use. “It’s not just an advertising change to the brand. This is an entire company effort, from products to the way we operate the restaurants.”

As part of that effort, Subway this spring is planning to introduce a rotisserie chicken sandwich that is “completely antibiotic-free,” Mr. Carroll said.

The first round of ads, which use the tagline “Founded on Fresh,” will run for about two months. The chain is still debating the fate of its existing tagline, “Eat Fresh,” Mr. Carroll said. The reason Subway went back to the beginning with the “founders” spot is to show millennials that “there is really substance to this brand—there is a real founder,” he said. With that as background, “as we go forward, we can make some claims with some credibility.”

In the ads, Mr. DeLuca is played by his son, Jonathan. Fred DeLuca—who opened the first Subway in Connecticut with a $1,000 loan from Mr. Buck—died in September after a battle with leukemia. Earlier this year, Mr. DeLuca named his sister, Suzanne Greco, to lead the company.

Mr. Carroll returned to Subway over the summer on a full-time basis after serving in a consulting role. He had previously served as senior VP-global marketing from 1999 to 2005. He reports directly to Ms. Greco and oversees creative development, consumer research, media and merchandising. Joe Tripodi, a former Coca-Cola Co. CMO who was named Subway’s global CMO in early December, oversees research and development, products, packaging and pricing and also reports to Ms. Greco, Mr. Carroll said.

Mr. Carroll said the new ad positioning is rooted in research that occurred before Mr. Fogle’s downfall, which began unfolding over the summer. Mr Fogle in November was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison after he admitted to receiving child pornography and paying for sex with minors. At Subway, he was the longtime face of a weight-loss message.

“We started this work before the whole thing with [Mr. Fogle] went down,” Mr. Carroll said. “We had made the decision [that] what he stood for around losing weight and … no fat, no calories—that was what fresh used to be. If we were going to redefine the brand, we had to redefine it with a new strategy and new tactics.”

On the move away from sports celebrities, he said: “I’m not sure it’s so believable when you put certain sports celebrities on that they really do eat your product every day as part of their training regimen. So we’ve walked away from that.” Subway will still do some targeted sports marketing, such as continuing to reach out to Nascar fans by using Subway endorser Carl Edwards, he said.

As for those “Five Dollar Footlong” ads, Mr. Carroll said the marketing at one time “made that offer so amazingly attractive: I’m getting an $8 sandwich for $5.” But, he added, “after a while you convince consumers that it’s really only a $5 sandwich and so that’s really what it’s worth.”

In the end, franchisees convinced Subway leaders that “we don’t have to discount our products,” he said. “We have a great product. Our consumers love it. Just tell our story.”

12941: Jared Jail-Bound.

From Adweek…

Former Subway Pitchman Jared Fogle Is Sentenced to Over 15 Years in Prison

For sex crime and child porn charges

By Kristina Monllos

Jared Fogle, the former Subway pitchman, was sentenced today to more than 15 years behind bars. As previously reported, Fogle was expected to plead guilty to charges related to the possession of child pornography as well as soliciting sex from minors. He accepted a plea deal.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt handled the case, which centered around Fogle’s interstate travel to have sex with minors as well as his possession of over 400 child pornography videos.

The case broke earlier this year after the head of Fogle’s charity, Russell Taylor, was found to be using his home to create hundreds of child pornography videos, many of which Taylor sent to Fogle.

Fogle’s 15-and-a-half-year sentence comprises the 188 months he will serve concurrently on the two counts.

Fogle’s defense addressed his dramatic weight loss—aided by eating at Subway—and argued that it could have impacted his sexuality.

“Once he lost weight, it seemed as though in a short time he had hypersexuality,” said forensic psychiatrist John Bradford. “There are brain disorders that can be associated with sexual drive.”

While Subway declined to comment on today’s sentencing, the brand pointed to its previous statement on the matter: “The actions of Mr. Fogle were inexcusable and do not represent our brand values,” said a spokeswoman. “That is why as soon as we learned about the disturbing allegations against him, we immediately suspended and subsequently terminated our relationship with him.”

Since the scandal began making headlines, the beleaguered sandwich chain has replaced its chief marketing officer as well as its creative agency, tapping BBDO in New York to help buoy the brand.

Fogle has already committed to paying 14 underage victims a total of $1.4 million.

The prosecution was reportedly looking for Fogle to serve roughly 12 years in prison, while Fogle’s lawyers lobbied for five years.

12829: Nothing Fresh At Subway.

Adweek reported Subway awarded its account to BBDO. It’s just as well, since the current tagline—eat fresh—is kinda creepy in light of the Jared Fogle mess. Plus, picking a new White agency to replace the old one is hardly a fresh move.

Subway Chooses BBDO as Agency to Guide It Into the Post-Jared Era

Chain hopes to redefine itself with a new shop and executive

By Patrick Coffee

Beleaguered sandwich chain Subway has chosen BBDO as its new creative agency of record after a review. The account will be handled by the agency’s New York office.

The company announced its review earlier this summer after two big changes: the departure of chief marketing officer Tony Pace and the news that longtime brand mascot Jared Fogle was under investigation for his alleged involvement in child pornography.

As we now know, Pace was replaced by Chris Carroll, who served as svp of global marketing from 1999 to 2005 and now holds the position of chief advertising officer. The company cut all ties to Fogle after he was taken into custody and agreed to plead guilty to a variety of crimes that will land him in prison for at least five years and brand him a sex offender.

The chain wants to move beyond Fogle, who appeared in more than 300 ads, as quickly as possible after ending its relationship with Boston’s MMB, which ran the account for about a decade.

In a statement, Carroll says, “All the finalist agencies did an excellent job during the process,” adding, “Our decision came down to our confidence in the quality of the team, business orientation, strategic insights and creativity. We look forward to our new partnership with BBDO to accelerate growth for the Subway brand.”

BBDO New York president and CEO John Osborn adds, “Subway is a great brand. We are honored and thrilled to partner with them and to create a fresh narrative for the brand.”

Subway said it decided to hold a review before Fogle’s legal problems went public. Its sales totals dropped in the United States last year, marking an unusual slump for a chain that passed McDonald’s to become the world’s largest in 2011.

After relying on Fogle for 15 years, Subway has given no hints about the direction of its next campaign. It did, however, increase its media spend in 2014 from $517 million to $534 million.

According to sources, other finalists in the review were The Martin Agency, MMB and McCann Erickson.

In a further statement, Carroll thanked “valued partner for the past 12 years” MMB for its “many contributions to Subway’s success.”

The review did not affect Subway’s media agency Mediacom, its social agency 360i, or any of its international partners.

12788: Weekend White Folks Wrap-Up.

Helen McRae continued the rise of White women by being named UK CEO of Mindshare. Mindshare Global CEO Nick Emery gushed, “Helen is a rare talent able to lead intellectually and is a demon shit-kicker.” Wow, a woman that can “lead intellectually” is a rare bird indeed. However, “demon shit-kicker” is a not a good term to use in light of the controversy surrounding media kickbacks.

Meanwhile, McRae’s glass-ceiling-busting feat was offset when OMD appointed a White man, Dan Clays, as its UK CEO. No word if Clays is a “demon shit-kicker” as well. The photo above, however, shows he’s a demon crotch-grabber.

Andrew Dimitriou was crowned Y&R President of Europe. Y&R Global CEO David Sable said, “Andrew is a true globalist and a thoughtful integrated marketer, no doubt because he is a creative and entrepreneurial thinker.” If Dimitriou is a “true globalist,” why is he only overseeing one White continent?

Chris Carroll returned to Subway in a marketing leadership role, perhaps replacing former CMO Tony Pace in a typical White man swap. At this point, Carroll’s official title and responsibilities are as guarded as the investigation that Jared Fogle is facing.

12787: Subway’s White-Bread Pitch.

Adweek revealed the secret identities of the White advertising agencies battling in the closed competition for the Subway business. According to Adweek:

It turns out Subway has been quietly talking to agencies for a while now, and the chain already has four finalists for its creative account.

Longtime incumbent MMB is defending against three other shops, which sources identified as BBDO, The Martin Agency and McCann Erickson. The brand spent more than $530 million in media last year, according to Kantar Media.

The search is being led by former marketing leader Chris Carroll, who returned to the fold more than a month ago in a senior role. Joanne Davis Consulting in New York is managing the process.

Great. Four White advertising agencies are wooing a recycled White man in a pitch being conducted by a White woman’s search firm—all for a (literally and figuratively) White-bread account. Now that’s diversity at work!

12779: Subway’s Exclusivity No Secret.

Advertising Age reported Subway launched a review for a fresh White advertising agency, and the sandwich chain is keeping the competitors’ identities secret. “Subway confirms that it is conducting a closed review of its creative advertising,” said a spokesperson. “Based on confidentiality agreements, we are not disclosing participating agencies.” Wow, that takes exclusivity to a whole new level. Subway is open to disclosing the ingredients in its awful products, yet unwilling to reveal which White advertising agencies will vie for the account. Didn’t they learn the dangers of covert activities from Jared Fogle?

More Upheaval As Subway Reviews Creative Account

Move Comes After CMO Leaves, Chain Suspends Relationship With Jared

By Maureen Morrison

As if there isn’t enough upheaval at Subway—yesterday global Chief Marketing Officer Tony Pace said he was leaving, two weeks after the chain suspended its relationship with spokesman Jared Fogle—now the fast-feeder is throwing its creative account into a mystery review.

“Subway confirms that it is conducting a closed review of its creative advertising,” said a spokeswoman in a statement. “Based on confidentiality agreements, we are not disclosing participating agencies.”

Subway’s creative work, as well as Hispanic and digital, is currently handled by Boston-based MMB, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It’s not clear whether MMB, the agency of record for the chain since 2005, is participating in the review. Other agencies on the roster, such as WPP’s MediaCom and Dentsu Aegis’ 360i, are not affected, the spokeswoman confirmed.

It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for the chain. Subway suspended its relationship with longtime spokesman Mr. Fogle on July 7, the same day after federal authorities investigated his home. Authorities did not say why they investigated the home, and Mr. Fogle was not charged with a crime, but Russell Taylor, executive director of the Fogle Foundation, a group that is dedicated to helping teach kids healthy lifestyle habits, was arrested on child pornography charges back in May.

Mr. Pace’s departure to form a consultancy called Cerebral Graffiti followed not long after, though Mr. Pace said publicly yesterday that he move was unrelated to the Jared issue.

The agency review comes as the chain is seeking to reverse a sales slide. Subway last year had its first decline in U.S. systemwide sales in years, with a 3% drop, according to Technomic. Though sales were down, store count was up almost 3% in the U.S. in 2014, though, to 27,205.

Much of Subway’s broadcast advertising has over the years has focused on a mix of Mr. Fogle, value advertising and more recently, promotion of premium-priced products. Though Mr. Fogle has appeared in recent ads, he hasn’t been featured as prominently as he once was, as the chain diversified its marketing and incorporated its Famous Fans. The promotion of more premium sandwiches that include ingredients like avocado came sometimes at the expense of the marketing for its $5 footlongs, a product that brought in cost-conscious customers.

Subway in 2014 spent about $533.2 million on U.S. measured media, according to Kantar Media, up 3.5% from $515.2 million.

12030: Subway Yoga Positions.

Saw the Subway ad above and found the headline peculiar—it almost reads as if the sandwich maker’s bread has been sitting on the store racks for years. Later discovered it’s part of a campaign to spotlight Subway bread. For Subway to build a concept around the outer part of a sandwich would be like Mickey D’s hyping sesame seed buns or Chipotle singing the praises of its flour tortillas.

Further Google searches showed Subway took a recent PR hit over bread ingredients, including a chemical—Azodicarbonamide—typically used to make yoga mats. The chemical is actually called out in the TV spot.

As luck would have it, Subway ran a Latino spot with a yoga theme a few years ago.

And of course, there’s at least one parody spot playing off the Azodicarbonamide controversy.

Can’t believe no one thought to team up Jared with this woman for a commercial.

11823: Big Mama’s Subway.

From The New York Daily News…

California woman sues Subway after she finds ‘Big Mama’ written on her flatbread pizza order

Allison Brown said she was mortified when she pulled her order out of her bag and saw the words ‘Big Mama’ scrawled on her box in black marker. Brown and her lawyer, Daniel Gilleon, plan to sue for sensitivity training to be part of Subway’s franchise agreements.

By Nancy Dillon

A California woman says a Subway restaurant worker was a flat-out bully when he wrote a tasteless fat jab on her flatbread pizza order, reducing her to tears.

She now plans to file a lawsuit demanding that sensitivity training be a part of the chain’s franchise agreements, she and her lawyer told the Daily News Friday.

Allison Brown said she was mortified when she pulled her order out of her bag on March 27 and saw the words “Big Mama” scrawled on her box in black marker.

“I just broke down crying. I couldn’t eat it. I kept thinking, ‘Big Mama’ doesn’t need to eat. It started really messing with me. I started thinking, ‘Maybe I need surgery. Do I really look that bad? What’s wrong with me?’”

Brown, a 45-year-old nursing assistant from Murrieta, Calif., said she immediately contacted the shop’s owner and was told the employee admitted writing the cruel remark, but countered that he only wrote it on one of her boxes, not all the items in her family’s order.

“The owner said the employee didn’t know better, that he just didn’t get it,” Brown told The News. “He begged me not to go to the media, so I tried to work with him, but then nobody was calling me back. It’s not right. This really hurt me.”

Brown said she called Subway’s corporate office the next day and cried through a message that was never returned. She felt the issue was getting swept under the mat, she said.

Eventually she had a lawyer send a letter demanding sensitivity training, not money. She turned down an offer of $5,000 for a confidentiality agreement and now plans to file a lawsuit under California’s unfair business practices law, her lawyer Daniel Gilleon told The News.

“This isn’t about money,” she said Friday. “This breaks my heart. Here Subway promotes itself as a place for people who need help eating better, then this happens. What if the wrong person got a box like mine? What if they saw that and tried to commit suicide?”

Gilleon said a letter sent by Subway’s corporate office this week refused to take any responsibility for the issue. He now plans to file the lawsuit in the next few weeks, he said.

“We’re going to do it for sure, unless they comply with our demand,” Gileon said, explaining that he took Brown’s case pro bono.

“They need to make sure all employees take training. And it’s something they should have done already. It should be in their franchise agreements,” he said. “If they can dictate how thinly the onions on the sandwiches are sliced, they can and should do this.”

In a statement to local ABC station 10News, restaurant owner Sanjiv Mehta said he tried to do what was right.

“As a small business owner, I do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. When I learned of this incident I immediately investigated and disciplined the employee involved. I also made contact with the customer in an effort to resolve this matter,” he told the station.

“Both the Subway franchisor and local franchisee have a zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. The franchisee took immediate action to investigate and terminated the employee involved,” Kevin Kane, a public relations manager for Subway, said in an email to The News. “All Subway restaurants are individually owned and operated and matters involving restaurant employees are handled on the local level.”

“I’m never going to eat at another Subway again,” Brown vowed Friday. “They don’t deserve my money.”

11534: Subway’s Strange Soccer Spot.

Not sure what motivated this Subway commercial introducing new spokesman Pelé. Is the sandwich chain launching a senior menu?

11295: Subway Ex-Employee Is A Dick.

From The New York Daily News…

Subway fires employee who put penis on sandwich bread and posted picture to Instagram

Two employees at a Columbus, Ohio, Subway restaurant were fired after posting pictures to Instagram that are anything but good public relations for the fast food chain.

By David Knowles / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

On second thought, cancel that foot-long sub.

An employee at a Subway fast food chain in Columbus, Ohio, posted a picture of himself resting his penis on the restaurant’s sandwich bread to Instagram, the Huffington Post reported.

“My name is @ianjett and I will be your sandwich artist today,” read a caption that accompanied the not-suitable-for-work picture that appeared on Jett’s feed.

When confronted about the picture, Jett tried to clarify his reason for sharing the image of him draping his penis over the foot-long roll.

“I would never do that at work—it was at home,” Jett told the Huffington Post. “This isn’t something I’d ever do at Subway. It was totally a joke.”

As if seeing a man’s penis resting atop the restaurant’s sandwich bread isn’t enough bad PR for a single news cycle, a second employee at the same Subway also posted a picture of what he purported to be his own frozen urine.

“Today at I work I froze my pee,” Cameron Boggs wrote beneath the picture of a frosted-over water bottle half-filled with a yellowish substance.

Predictably, the photos did not sit well with Subway, which fired both Boggs and Jett.

“This isolated incident is not representative of Subway Sandwich Artists,” the company said in a statement to the Daily News. “These actions are not tolerated and the franchisee took immediate action to terminate the two employees involved.”

The two men might still have their jobs preparing sandwiches if not for anonymous tipster who spotted the photos and alerted the media.

“I saw the frozen piss picture and thought, ‘What is this guy doing?’” the tipster told Huffpost Weird News. “Then came the penis picture. They’re stupid enough for doing this in the first place, but then to post it to the world? It was a dumb move.”

10502: New Earth, Wind & Fire Subs…?

The Subway SubPrize Party asks: Do you remember the many subs of September? Earth, Wind & Fire must really be hurting for cash.

10481: Subway Boom De Yada Bullshit.

Subway makes people break into song and dance in Trinidad. Gee, who needs Carnival when you’ve got Subway?

9292: Celebrating Ramadan With Subway.

A little late with this Subway Ramadan commercial, but why would anyone ever consider passing on such a spread for fast food sandwiches?

6141: Riding The Subway.

The letters below were published at AdAge.com in response to the Subway post by Karl Carter. A brief MultiCultClassics response immediately follows.

Subway ads prompt race discussion

RE: “You Might Be a Racist When…” (AdAge.com, Oct. 31). There is no objective reality called “racist.” There is only what I see and what you see and they are equally real. For me, the Subway ad is racist because it is sloppy and indifferent and incompetent in its use of black/urban cultural cues to promote its product. The problem with the ad was not that it sucked. The problem with the ad was that it never tried to be good. It never cared enough about the audience to try to be genuinely interesting, relevant or persuasive.

Could a more diverse creative team have done a better job? Undoubtedly. But so could an all-white team, as long as they cared enough to learn their audience, as long as they respected their audience enough not to assume they already knew everything they needed to know.

Contrary to popular opinion, the best advertising does not come from brilliant creative minds. (None were in evidence here.) It comes from well-informed creative minds. And if you don’t have enough respect for your subject and your audience to become well-informed, then perhaps you’re being racist, and so is your work.

Mark Robinson
Ridgefield, Conn.


Recently, at an Orlando Advertising Federation Ad2 event, I enjoyed a spirited and informative discussion with a young African-American professional who said that her culture possessed so many nuances, more than any other culture, that the only people who could truly understand and market to the segment were African-Americans. I have been thinking about that a lot since we spoke, and while I am not sure if she was 100% right, wrong or somewhere in the middle, this article rekindled the discussion in my mind and got me thinking.

According to the definition used in this post, racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. By saying that you have to be African-American, for example, to market to African-Americans, aren’t you racist? Or is that cultural bias?

With all the research that is out there to better understand a target audience, is it truly necessary to “be from” to “market to”?

Larry Meador
Evok
Lake Mary, Fla.

These discussions tend to roll out the same way, presenting the same points of view.

Robinson does a decent job of playing his role. Meador does likewise. So MultiCultClassics will complete the clichéd conversation by examining Meador’s observations and inquiries.

Regarding “all the research that is out there to better understand a target audience,” well, it just ain’t out there. Even the minority shops struggle to find the funding to probe for real insights. In many instances, clients expect their minority partners to inherently “understand a target audience.”

Meador should watch what usually unfolds at traditional big (i.e., White) advertising agencies when a minority project appears. Rest assured, nobody taps into mystical research. Rather, every minority in the building—from staffers to mailroom attendants to cafeteria workers—is summoned into a conference room and frisked for cultural clues. Or like the Subway incident, the matter isn’t considered from a fresh perspective at all. Besides, having research rarely translates to having legitimate understanding.

As for wondering if a minority who believes they are best suited to address other minorities is a racist, well, let’s not get too wrapped up in technicalities. Maybe the minority is demonstrating bias. Whatever.

Then again, one could argue Madison Avenue is filled with Whites who believed—and continue to believe—they are most qualified to communicate to any audience on Earth. What other explanation would account for the lack of diversity? Should we question the possibility of racism in that scenario too?

6069: Is That A Footlong In Your Pocket…?

Hey, didn’t this kind of shit lead to Jared’s original troubles?