Subway Franchisees Tired of Megan Rapinoe as Customers Boycott the Restaurant
“The ad should be pulled and done with. It gets tiring apologizing.”
Subway franchisees have had enough of anti-American soccer star Megan Rapinoe, especially since customers started to boycott the sandwich shop.
Subway charges the franchisees 4.5% of their revenue. The company controls the money, which also goes towards national advertising.
Rapinoe became a Subway spokesperson in the spring. Some franchisees want Subway to drop her from the ads:
Last week, reps from the NAASF [North American Association of Sunway Franchisees0 told members the group had already taken grievances over the Rapinoe ads to the company’s top management, led by Chief Executive John Chidsey.
“Your NAASF Board has already communicated with [Subway] leadership the concerns voiced by NAASF membership,” the group’s executive director, Illya Berecz, told franchisees, according to a letter obtained by The Post.
“I had a bunch of franchisees calling me on this today,” a lawyer who represents Subway franchisees told The Post earlier this week. “They are trying to get the ads pulled.”
The owners accused Subway of “missing advertising funds by featuring a potentially controversial spokesperson in commercials.”
A Wisconsin store operator posted a note left by a customer:
“BOYCOTT SUBWAY until Subway FIRES the anti-American POS Megan Rapinoe, the creep who kneels for our beloved National Anthem!” the customer wrote. “TAKE AMERICA BACK from the Godless REPROBATES!”
Brad Simon, Subway’s senior director of brand communication, said Rapinoe is not the only athlete or celebrity associated with the company. With so many spokespeople, Rapinoe has a limited partnership.
One franchisee told The New York Post Subway “should focus on the improved bread” and the “mom-and-pop owners so subway comes off as less corporate.”
“The ad should be pulled and done with,” sighed one franchisee. “It gets tiring apologizing.”
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Comments
Woke is all fun and games until the real material loses hit.
GO WOKE … GO BROKE
Brainwashed people do not make good marketing decisions.
I read that subway has no corporate stores. They aren’t going to lose out, it’s the franchisees who will get screwed. Hence their public vocal outrage and attempts to change their advertising.
Personally if I had a franchise I’d rent a mobile sign stating rapinoe is a bwitch and my store rejects her totally. Imagine if thousands of them do that.
I’d hazard a guess that any mobile sign would be deemed contrary to the franchise terms and fines or legal action ensue.
Corporate don’t care if a bunch of ma and pa franchisees go broke, it’s only a tiny wobble to their bottom line.
Until or unless entire stateloads of franchisees tell corporate to break with Rapinho or they’ll break their franchise agreements and cause serious financial pain, corporate won’t care. They’re woke, so you should be too.
Thats not true. About 10% of subway stores are under corporate ownership. Most gave been taken back by the company after franchise’s fail. How do I know ow this? For 3 years I was a manager employed by subway and ran stores for them.
If I saw a picture of that ugly asshole in the doorway of ANYTHING, I’d make a u-turn and go somewhere else.
Which begs the question: what kind of asshole at Subway put an even bigger asshole in charge of marketing?
I do not think subway is frequented by woke hipsters or the global elite. This smacks of management that is not in tune with their customer base, which is a bad sign. How do you expect them to successfully manage the brand an improve offerings if they do not know who their customers are?
I dunno, Jussie Smollett apparently liked it.
True. Maybe he can replace Rapinoe as their next spokesperson.
Watch Dave Chappell’s hilarious “Jussie Smollet Incident”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZXoErL2124
Thanks for the great humor! Just what we need.
Paraphrasing the OP, “If Jussie saw a picture of that ugly asshole in the doorway he would have’ made a u-turn and went somewhere else.”
Subway spent a ton of money trying to revamp the image. Changing the menu was a decent try. Who would ever think it was a good idea to hire this hack?
FIRE HER … THEN FIRE THE PERSON WHO HIRED HER
Then force her to eat foot-long subs every day.
Even 11 inch ones!
Not sure I really care. Haven’t eaten at a Subway® for years after I watched a Subway® employee wipe their nose with their hand and then make a sandwich for the customer ahead of me in line. I walked out and never went back. And really, it’s all just over-priced for what you get. You could make one or two similar sandwiches for what they charge for one small sandwich. Or go to a real deli and get a real deli sandwich.
In any case, they went Woke and now they’re going Broke. Too bad, so sad for them.
We use them when traveling. Now, with Covid, we pack all our food though.
As I said previously, Subway is a such a joke. You get a carb-laden, thin cheapo meat, pile of iceberg “sandwich” that is not even close to healthy. Look at all the employees of subway that work there for more than a year. How many look like they belong at Pizza Hut instead? It’s fast food garbage wrapped in a fake healthy package…kinda like Rapinoe.
Then, don’t go there. I sure as shootin’ don’t.
I definitely don’t, but I blast them to everyone who will listen because some are under the mistaken assumption that they are healthy.
Yogi bear wouldn’t even steal a picnic basket from there.
At least they were wiping. My last time, the lady was just letting it drip unmolested.
If they’ve got many celebs, and their franchisees who are in touch with customers want one of the celebs gone, I don’t understand what the wait is. She should be gone instantly.
Furthermore, they put absolute idiots in charge of fielding customer complaints about this issue.
Their website’s “contact us” form demands you identify your local outlet, even if your communication has nothing to do with a particular location. Shortly after submitting my complaint, I received a groveling email from my local manager apologizing that my experience was not up to her standards. I replied to her that nothing in my complaint reflected on her performance at all, it was a national issue. I received another verbatim copy of the previous grovel.
Does this make me feel like a “valued customer?” Your estimation is quite likely more accurate than Subway’s. And they don’t even pay you for yours.
You never go full retard. I am starting to think that we need terms like “getting Subwayed” or getting “Coked” need to be used more frequently so that maybe some of these companies won’t go down the dark path in the first place.
As my old lawyer buddy used to say, these implied threats by the left need to be treated with an email that says: FU, strong letter to follow.”
“I received another verbatim copy of the previous grovel.”
Reminds me of the story about “send her the bug letter”.
Does she eat the subway sandwich sideways?
Yes. And she gets pissed when she has to order a “six inch” sandwich.
Ummm,, guess the old adage “Get woke, go broke.” Still rings true.. 😅🤣😅
They should just drop their franchise tag and open a better restaurant. Subway is a craphole and Rapinoe is a perfect fit for it.
When a person buys a franchise, what they’re really doing is buying a job. The franchisees are not their own boss. In addition to paying the franchise fee (normally financed) and then paying the 4.5% in annual revenue, the franchisee has to rigidly adhere to the franchisor’s operating procedures. The franchisee can’t, for instance, deviate from the set operating hours. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view I benefited from this administrative constipation.
When my business partner and I were scouting locations for our new restaurant back in 2005 we found an ideal space in a well trafficked area in Dallas. There were plenty of local residents living all around the entertainment district, lots of office space full of people during the day in that pre-COVID era, lots of people driving in from the ‘burbs for special events or just a night out, and people flying in from all over the country for business and pleasure. The other bars and restaurants weren’t so much competition as they didn’t offer what we offered.
The previous lessee tried to operate a Philly cheese steak franchise and couldn’t make a go of it. He had a brisk lunch business M – F with the local office workers. But nobody goes out for a chain-restaurant Philly cheese steak sandwich for a night on the town. He had no dinner business, and likewise no traffic on Saturdays. Yet the franchise agreement stipulated he’d have to stay open until 9:00 p.m. weekdays, and he had to be open on Saturday. It allowed for no deviations from the franchise agreement; it was their way or not at all. Since it was an expensive area considering what commercial real estate was going for per square foot, there’s no way he could make a go of it when all he had going for his store was a weekday lunch crowd. So he was operating at a loss and finally just called it quits and broke the lease.
We had to do a lot of remodeling, but we had a lot easier time with permitting since it had already been technically a restaurant, as well as it had some of the infrastructure already installed.
I’d never own a franchise for reasons I’ve touched on. And here’s another reason why. The franchise itself is sinking their own franchisees with their deranged messaging.
It’s interesting about operating hours. Corporate stores have standards for hours as well. When I was with Radio Shack back in the 1970s, my store at 7th and Hill in downtown L.A. had two characteristics: if it was $40 or less and could be carried easily, it sold. Stereos, antennas, etc? No. People would look at the items in my store, then buy that night or on the weekend at the store close to their home.
Item 2: business on Saturday and Sunday was non-existent. Mexicans were the big retail customers o weekends and they were over on Broadway, buying brands they recognized from back home. RCA. Zenith. GE. They never heard of Realistic, and I wasn’t on Broadway.
I asked management to let me adjust stock, and to adjust hours. No go.
Al Copeland was the same way with his franchise agreements with franchisees. Everything had to be done to the letter to the agreement, no deviation. If your Copeland’s restaurant was operating at a loss, tough cookies. However, if it was profitable, corporate could and would force a legal takeover of the restaurant and the franchisee would lose out to a clause in said agreement.
Don’t really miss the man. One of his business associates once said that the man was so stingy that he “wouldn’t give a crippled frog a crutch.”
Subway has another problem, besides the marketing: Their food is terrible. The last time I went there I recall sitting in the car with a meatball marinara sub and thinking it had zero flavor. Haven’t stepped into a Subway since.
I so agree! Their attempts at a Philly cheese steak are equally disappointing. BUT they do great old-school subs; I love their bread and that you can say you want this, this, and this but not this on your sub. And you can see it being built, and not spit on by SJW warriors who detect you are not a commie.
Woke “barely got the bronze” Rapinoe is definitely a drain for Subway franchises in real/normal America. Out here in the hinterlands, we can celebrate a U.S. Olympics win if the athletes are worthy. Rapinoe and her woke squad of wokesters are a genuine embarrassment.
That is why Subway is over the woke nonsense; she and her woke team failed to bring home the gold, or even the silver, and so, yeah, we all have to wonder how much she thought about being a wokester vs. being an Olympic champion. Her results suggest she was more interested in social justice than in excelling in her sport. Same with Gwen Berry, the woke hammer thrower who finished 11th (out of 12!).
I’m fine with them both losing since they both made it crystal clear they hate America, loathe it to the point of Berry feeling “set up” and “pissed off” at hearing our national anthem while she bombed during the Olympic trials (yes, third place is bombing considering the standards and practices of those countries who *gasp* expect their Olympic athletes to earn gold.
Screw them. I’m glad they lost; their loss is perfect symbolism: they failed as anti-American losers, who cherished and nurtured the hate in their heart for our great nation, focusing on media coverage and how much commie cred they have over their sport. Yeah, not at all bummed about this.
What’s more, her teammates, including the one who stood for the anthem, are now back toiling in obscurity. Even if they had won gold they would have been in that situation. Rapinoe is making a crap-ton of money from endorsements, at least for now, and her teammates are getting squat.
Part of the USNWT’s problem is that, well, in soccer years they’re old. It’s time for some players to retire and let the new blood in.
Rapinoe vociferously complained about wanting equal pay with the men’s national soccer team (a ludicrous idea from the start) but I’ll bet you a footlong turkey and swiss that she is not sharing her endorsement cash among her teammates.
Rapinoe is a massively selfish narcissist. Her teammates allowed themselves to get sucked into her b.s.
Too bad, girls. You coulda been somebody. But now you’re a bunch of obscure bums. , too embarrassed to ever tell half the nation that you were on the same soccer team as this toxic moron Rapinoe.
You never go full retard. I am starting to think that we need terms like “getting Subwayed” or getting “Coked” need to be used more frequently so that maybe some of these companies won’t go down the dark path in the first place.
As my old lawyer buddy used to say, these implied threats by the left need to be treated with an email that says: FU, strong letter to follow.”
I agree. And the one I really feel sorry for is Alex Morgan. She is talented and gave her heart and soul to women’s soccer, Her past contributions are outstanding, yet because she went along with the “woke” losers she is now tarred with the loser label, at least in the short term and maybe forever. Truly a pity, but she should have stood up for America when she had the chance.
“That is why Subway is over the woke nonsense”
Do you think they are? I don’t see any indication of it. They’ll drop Rapinoe strictly because she’s a liability — she choked, they backed the wrong dog-faced pony, that was the only mistake they’ll recognize. Another will be along soon enough.
Hey, what about Brett Blomm? He should be a crowd-pleaser! He’s like all their previous spokespeople rolled together, on steroids!
I wouldn’t set foot in a Subway store for all the tea in China and I will NEVER patronize a company that uses this Rappinoe wretch in any capacity!
You can take Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated off your companies to patronize.
well that’s not a problem
So a bunch of suits setting around the board room thinks that hiring an anti American purple haired dyke will improve business!?! These guys still have jobs?
They not only have jobs, but, likely have MBAs. None have ever gotten their hands dirty, tended a counter, tried to close out a till, or swept a floor.
The CEO came from Burger King. That should tell all you need to know.
From when? Unless I am mistaken, Booger King has changed hands more often than a bottle of Jack at a frat party.
When thou findest thyself in a hole, thou shouldst cease digging. They ignored the memo, and now the volume of the laughter gets greater by the day. They also ignored the difference in being laughed with and laughed at.
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Subway has been moving left in recent years. They teamed with Mooch and her healthy eating campaign. It is pro-gun control and, unless I am wrong, it is one of the companies opposing Georgia’s voter law. With Jersey Mike’s, Jimmy John’s, Potbelly’s and local sub shops, there are plenty of alternatives.
I was wrong on the Georgia voter bill:
https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/546160-leaders-from-these-companies-oppose-georgias-new-voting-law
Well, the thing with Subway and other chain restaurants that franchise is that we can’t know where the individual franchisees stand . . . unless it makes news, as here. The national Subway message is a loser yet franchise owners know that the Subway name means something (or they wouldn’t pay to rake in on the name). They are well and truly screwed if we all forget that there’s a difference between a locally owned and operated business that paid to use the, in this case, Subway name and Subway itself.
Before the Delta variant panic porn gripped the nation, our local Krispy Kreme was still requiring its employees to wear masks. In Free Florida. In the midst of a worker shortage spurred by Democrats (and Trump) sprinkling taxpayer money around the nation as if it were fairy dust. Totally crazy.
At my bank, again pre-Delta variant panic porn, I was told that I had to wear a mask in the bank, even to make a simple withdrawal. This was back when the CDC said masks were no longer needed . . . but left it to the states’/businesses’ discretion. So the masked bank teller tells me I cannot be in the bank without a mask. I say, I don’t have one, so she points me–and I kid you not–to a table with those blue/white masks that even Fauci said were totally useless . . . AND they were all spread out on the table, clearly pawed through, touched, and who knows, likely sneezed upon and otherwise perfectly gross.
So I respond that not only are these masks a public health hazard but that there is no way I am putting any one of them anywhere near my face (again, this is during the CDC messaging that masks shouldn’t be required for the vaccinated–no, I did not and will not be vaccinated, but I had WuFlu, so am naturally “vaccinated.”) Anyway, to her credit the teller kind of nodded that yeah, spreading masks out on a public table was probably not totally sanitary.
I used the drive thru that day, but I am in the process of removing myself from this crazy bank. Imagine: hey, just grab one of the masks sprawled out in the open, subject to God knows what manhandling, sneezing, coughing, etc., and just strap that petri dish on your face . . . so we are all safe. Erm. No, not going to happen.
Most fast food restaurants are franchised. So, if we boycott Subway, it will benefit a Jimmy John’s or Jersey Mike’s franchisee at the expense of a Subway franchisee. But, that’s a way to get a message across.
There were 6 Subway locations in my suburb three years ago. Today, it’s three.
Subway appears to be a dying brand, and the brand’s managers seem to have no clue on how to revive it. To my knowledge, the stores were not very profitable even in their heyday, and a franchisee had to own and operate several to make a decent living.
mmmMMMmmmm…! Bears LIKE Jersey Mike’s!
Bears will eat anything.
Cut them some slack… Jared is not longer an option.
At least they didn’t KNOW Jared came with disaster baggage BEFORE they hired him.
Both as popular as a case of genital herpes… can’t wait to see what’s next.
A case of shingles?
Hmm, I decide where to eat out based on the menu and the quality of the food. For what it’s worth, my average Joe endorsement goes to Publix deli subs.
At least now I know who the odd girl with the purple hair in the commercial is – I didn’t know she was famous (or rather infamous).
Spokespeople are invariably either pretty or famous, so I understood immediately she was famous.
I have the sinking feeling that not only will the suits at Subway NOT drop Megan Rapinoe, they will try to go even MORE woke (if that’s possible).
Seriously, Brett Blomm is the guy to back. Why have a child molester OR a divisive and bilious uber-woke LGB-etc., when you can have BOTH at the same time?
You never go full retard.
Just wait until you see her in some Victoria’s Secret undies….
Lime green for contrast. The days of Vickie’s Secret are numbered. They deserve it with decisions like that. Know your customers if you want their business.
Sports Ill might as well not even print the swimsuit issue if they’re not going to use models representing the American male’s idea of feminine perfection. Men have little interest in folds of flab rolling over a bikini. (Barf.)
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Smart move by Victoria’s Secret. Young women all know the man in their life wants to see his significant looking like Megan Rapinoe. LOL. It may help with lesbian and tranny sales.
How long until Victoria’s Secret is “that she’s a dude?” That and now stocking sizes which could double as a fishing net.
According to the sign in a local Mall, the rear entrance to Victoria’s is closed. Made me smile a bit for the rest of the day.
Subway is an inept, clueless organization. There focus is money and nothing else. I quit going to any of their locations years ago.
It would be great if many people wrote to the company that they should hire Joseph Vissarionovich Jughashvili, who would be a perfect woke replacement for Rapinoe.
There are two Subway locations near me that make THE BEST subs of any of them! They do their breads in such a way that they are better than any others we’ve found.
We really love the Cold Cut Combos and I very regularly spent money at one of these two locations, buying footlongs for myself and my family.
These stores are in financially-depressed locations so they really need all the business they can get. They had been getting a substantial amount of money from my business.
UNTIL I heard about Subway hiring that skank as their spokesman!
I heard about it very early and I immediately stopped buying from them.
I’m not joking when I say that the loss of my business to these two stores is making a tiny dent in their bottom line but in the overall scheme of things, it’s not hurting Subway in the least!
And that’s sad!!
This article at least lets me know I’m not the only person who’s VERY upset at her being paid to sell the subs!