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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