Subway versus the $5 Footlong
Posted on Jun 12, 2020
The Five Dollar Footlong is one of the trademarks of Subway restaurants. You probably remember its classic jingle from way back in the day:
If you don’t eat at Subway as often as you used to, it’s probably because they got rid of the Five Dollar Footlong. It hasn’t totally disappeared, however. Subway has brought the promotion back before in an extremely neutered form, only offering five dollar deals on a very limited selection of sandwiches - typically the cheap stuff like Italian BMTs or Cold Cut Combos. Now Subway is considering bringing the promotion back again… to the absolute horror of Subway franchisees.
The North American Association of Subway Franchisees is fighting back against Subway yet again, trying to resist the imposition of cheap submarine sandwiches that would seriously cut into their profits. The Five Dollar Footlong has been extremely unpopular with Subway owners ever since its inception. The price point is simply too low for many Subway owners to sustain, offering only razor thin margins.
How is this battle of sandwich prices going to play out this time? Let’s learn about the Five Dollar Footlong, and why Subway owners fucking hate it.
Originally invented 2004 by a franchisee to boost sales, in 2007 another franchisee heard about the concept and implemented it in his own stores. The boost was immense, and Subway corporate was then quick to pick up the idea. Then the bottom fell out of the housing market in 2008, and the Great Recession began. The timing couldn’t be better - people were broke and on the hunt for cheap food, and Subway was promising enough sandwich for two people to share for only five bucks.
The phrase “Five Dollar Footlong” became synonymous with Subway, and has since entered into the cultural zeitgeist as one of those annoying commercial jingles that get stuck in your head for hours. This marked a noticeable shift in culture for Subway: no more were they the health food restaurant that could help you lose weight, they were a place where you could get mountains of deli meat for a low price. Times seemed good… until they didn’t.
Eventually, inflation outpaced the price point of the Five Dollar Footlong, and franchisees could no longer keep up. The margins kept getting slimmer and slimmer, and customers were no longer interested in the promotion - now it was a given part of Subway’s business practice. The “Six Dollar Meal Deal”, a six inch sub, drink, and chips for six dollars, garnered outrage when it replaced the Five Dollar Footlong. Although the Six Dollar Meal Deal was better for franchisees, people were pissed that their beloved sandwiches could now cost twice as much as what they were used to.
As well, people were realizing… Well, Subway isn’t very good. There are better options for a similar price point if you want submarine sandwiches, and the rise of fast-casual restaurants showed that actual fresh food was well within peoples price points. Suddenly, pre-packaged deli meat and old vegetables were neither the health food option they once were, nor were they appealing to eat in mass quantities. Subway found itself in dire straits.
Subway tried the Five Dollar Footlong paradigm again in 2017 with the aforementioned limited selection - the “Five $4.99 Footlongs”. Franchisees were furious at the time, claiming that the numbers simply didn’t add up for them. Now Subway is thinking of returning to the well for 2020, and who knows how harshly the franchisees will react this time? In these troubling times, a cheap sandwich might be better welcomed than in 2017, but inflation has only gotten worse. Five dollars just doesn’t get you what it used to.
Subway is trying to change the exact formula up a little bit, instead offering a “2 for $10” combo and providing owners with direct cash in exchange for doing the deal. The franchisees are still skeptical, though, because the offered cash would be in the form of rebates with Coca-Cola - something that generates better benefits for Subway corporate than the individual owners. This could lead to higher costs for individual franchises, causing them to lose even more in the end.
Besides, who really wants to eat at Subway? Just get bread and deli meat from the grocery store.
Tagged: 2020 commercials fast food five dollar footlong sandwich subway