Is ‘Subway’ still promoting health?
We're all familiar with Jared and how he used to wear whale-sized pants. They also cram down our throats how Subway is so much healther than fast food, with such gems as below.
But here's the real skinny (in three lovely varieties).
Pizza
Subway has added pizza to their menu. The side of their cups proudly compare your subway sandwich to the Big Mac (540 calories). The most basic pizza starts at around 750 calories and up (which cannot be found on their site, but luckily is required on NYC menus).
That's 200 calories more than a big mac. I could eat a Cheeseburger (300) + Large Fries (500) for about the same as the "healthy" subway food. Sure people realize that pizza is unhealthy, but by promoting health in their commercials and stores, people will by association, assume Subway's pizzas are healthier.
The $5 footlong
Subway now offers a footlong sandwich for $5. In New York, some 6 inch sandwiches actually cost more than the $5 footlong. It's fiscally responsible to eat more.
Chips + drink
Every time you buy subway, no matter what you get, you're offered a chips and drink combo. They also just recently decided to bump up the size of a subway cup from huge to ginormous.
I wrote a letter to Subway a few weeks ago and have heard no response.
About me
I'm an artist and software developer.
Currently, I'm the CEO of a company I co-founded called, stickybits
Prior to stickybits, I co-founded betaworks, where I created chartbeat, a real-time analytics service and firef.ly, a chat service.
You can view my artwork at billychasen.com
Creations
Tweets
- @tarekp finally healing up. Now just a few more weeks in the sling...
- Microwaves are one of the most popular devices. How come I've never seen a commercial for one?
- @jonsteinberg hampton chutney co
- This will resonate will all app developers out there http://bit.ly/dzBVBU
- digging my new shirt http://dailybooth.com/u/4mkj2
July 14th, 2008 - 13:40
I agree that the $5 foot-long promotion can promote overconsumption, and how this can make it a good value to eat Subway vs. other deli sandwiches. For the first time in the years I’ve been avidly eating Subway, today I had a $5 foot-long Veggie Delight on wheat, no chips or soda. I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did, but I’ll probably choose the Veggie Delight (no-combo) again in the future. Stick to the 7 subs with 6 grams of fat or less and it’s not so bad.
July 14th, 2008 - 15:26
I guess maybe saving money is more important then eating heathly now.
December 10th, 2008 - 19:35
Maybe they are selling sharing and friendship…share the footlong with a friend and you both save. Not so nefarious.
January 4th, 2009 - 01:08
Yaknow, the sharing bit would be a nice touch. I do wish they’d offer it up as “Buy a $5 footlong, add two meal deals for $1.99 each” but they don’t do that. It almost makes me want to infiltrate the corporate world of Subway and sneak that idea into a few meetings.
January 30th, 2009 - 18:14
Yea i work at subway and its sad to see people come in and get footlongs and then get extra sauce. subway has no limit on sauce so the calories go through the roof. common sandwiches are a footlong chicken bacon ranch with a cup of ranch. thats like 1500 calories and close to 100g of fat. the tuna is scary to. a footlong has 1200 calories and that is with no extra mayo that people usually get. $5 footlongs are double the size, but just remember to double the time on the treadmill.
June 9th, 2009 - 05:21
Well, if you really want to eat healthy you will do the research needed and fit it in to your daily allowance. Save money or get healthy? Maybe it’s not one or the other. Buy a $5 foot long, eat half now, and the other half later. It’s not the company’s fault if people think everything on their menu including soda and chips is healthy, if your stupid enough not to know that soda and chips is bad for you (in over consumption), then maybe you deserve to be overweight? I’m overweight myself, but I’m doing something about it, and so can any one else. It’s not Subways, Mcdonalds, Burger Kings, Dairy Queens, etc’s fault that people are overweight… the nutritional facts are out there… read them first. People are responsible for themselves. Period.