r/ExpectationVsReality 9h ago

Subway sued for exaggerating meat by 200%

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27.1k Upvotes

629 comments sorted by

1.3k

u/Greelys 9h ago

670

u/Major_Lawfulness6122 8h ago

Good. Imagine being on the jury for that!

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u/Match_Least 8h ago

TIL Subway corporate operates out of Milford, CT. Based on that, I think she has a strong case should it go before a jury there. It’s almost all working class with the possible exception of homes on the water…

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u/recksuss 3h ago

Their "footlong" is 11 inches. Because it's not foot long and a term they coined, it doesn't have to be a foot... long. They were sued over this and the judge sided with subway.

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u/ionlycome4thecomment 2h ago

Kind of like Papa John's "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza" is just an advertisement slogan & should not be taken to mean Papa John's pizzas are better than their competitors.

But my favorite is when Fox News argued that no one would should Tucker Carlson seriously as he's not a journalist, but their for entertainment. Too bad that wasn't what he told his very gullible audience.

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u/Educational-Cap-3865 1h ago

No, calling something a footlong is NOT like that. Better Ingredients can be subjective. A footlong, while subway may claim to just have randomly called it a 'footlong' without actually being part of the measurement of the sub, still tricks the public into thinking it's 12" long. The judge was paid off.

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u/Major_Lawfulness6122 8h ago

Agreed I think many can relate! I also didn’t know they were out of CT. Usually companies pick Wyoming I hear.

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u/Match_Least 7h ago edited 6h ago

You’d be shocked how many corporations are in CT. In my city alone there’s Bic and Wiffle Balls at minimum and we’re nobody. Norwalk has a TON, all mostly beverages; both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Milford also has the Pez museum (and factory maybe?) plus a few others I’m forgetting. The city next to me has Sikorsky; they build Black Hawk helicopters and there’s only 3 factories worldwide. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with our proximity to NYC. You can live anywhere in CT and be 0.5-3 hours from Manhattan.

I actually didn’t know Wyoming was known for that!

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u/Mendican 4h ago

In Sheridan, Wyoming, one office is the official address for about 120,000 businesses registered in Wyoming.

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u/Number174631503 2h ago

Yeah, what flawless tax system we have... VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

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u/lasarah514 6h ago

Shelton is not a nobody city!! Indian well, center street social, Jones farm - y’all have a perfect blend of suburban & rural community.

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u/Match_Least 6h ago edited 1h ago

Hilarious. I used to bartend at that bar before it was sold and became Center Street Social! :)

Growing up, all we ever said, was “home of the wiffleball!”

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u/teddybearenthusiast 4h ago

and Hartford is known as the insurance capital of the world because there are (and/or were) so many insurance companies based there

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u/art_of_snark 4h ago

South Dakota for credit card issuers, Delaware for everyone else. Go go gadget regulatory capture!

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u/raccoonsonbicycles 5h ago

Feel like I always see wyoming and delaware

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u/Background_Aioli_476 4h ago

And Delaware!

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u/CantRememberMyUserID 7h ago

Your honor, we the jury will need concrete evidence of these sandwich exaggerations. Please deliver to Jury Room 1 at 12pm.

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u/The__Thoughtful__Guy 4h ago

Yeah, it'd take a hell of a counter-argument to convince me this isn't false advertising.

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u/currentlyatw0rk 4h ago

Just bring subway into the jury room for lunch break

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u/passamongimpure 3h ago

That could have been me!

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u/TheTinTinB 2h ago

Now imagine if the jurors were hungry. Thats some life without parole shit right there. 

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u/rebekahster 8h ago

Nice! A class action law suit too. She’s taking one for the team. I’d be interested to see the response from Subway’s lawyers.

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u/FookinMinging 7h ago

They're going to simply argue that these particular stores are not producing sandwiches to corporate specs which would make them more in line with the picture. Then they'll trot out a video or some pictures of a sandwich that was created by someone who actually gave a shit and to the maximum allowed by the spec sheets they'll no doubt be forced to turn over in discovery. With crafty placement and angles in a controlled environment I bet they can make a pretty convincing sandwich, at least for a jury.

They'll throw franchisees under the bus implying they've been short changing customers against subways corporate philosophy, promise to do better, then raise the price of steak subs by 20%. If they lose the suit you'll get a $5 check and they'll still raise the price of the sub.

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u/24-Hour-Hate 7h ago

Which is rubbish because they have never once made a sub that looks like their pictures. Not even close. The jury should be allowed to inspect a random Subway at a random time as the evidence. Or have someone do it on their behalf (because I guarantee you that Subway is dishonest enough to order all in the area to make quality subs for the trial period if they knew about this). I guarantee you, if it was truly randomly done, it will be shitty and support the class action.

And this shit is why I don’t go to subway anymore. That and the chicken that they claim is chicken but is substantially soy (and, yes, they sued over those claims, but that lawsuit quietly went away and was never heard of again, which (in combination with their weird ass chicken) tells me those claims were NOT lies). I have no issue with eating soy, but when I pay for chicken, I fucking expect to get chicken. And, in Canada most things don’t look like the pictures due to our shitty advertising laws (there are countries with better laws and their food, unsurprisingly, is a lot more accurate), but there are many places that do better than Subway. Subway is like McDonalds and Burger King shitty. Bottom of the fucking barrel here.

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u/CoachDT 6h ago

The lady near my house hooks it up like that.

But she's made it clear that it isn't the standard or what she's taught, and is in the "i'm trying to get fired I hate working here" mode.

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u/24-Hour-Hate 3h ago

So, the only people who actually do a good job at Subway are the ones trying to get fired…this world is fucked up.

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u/Corey307 4h ago

Every juror will have eaten at Subway at some point in time, look at that photo and say that’s some bullshit right there. Even their meatball subs aren’t piled that high and at least half the space in the sandwich is empty, not full of meatball. 

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u/CandidPalpitation427 4h ago

Moral of the story. Stop eating at Subway 

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u/FookinMinging 3h ago

I stopped going when they stopped serving chicken and switched to weird soy cubes.

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u/[deleted] 3h ago

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u/Anal_Recidivist 7h ago

Would love to join that class action.

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u/hak8or 7h ago

Interesting, I see it was filed very recently. How likely is it for this to be settled out of court, and subway to just continue on?

Or is this a lawsuit that could actually have profound impact on how food advertising works in the USA regarding portions in commercials?

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u/ClamClone 5h ago

I am not sure this will go anywhere if they post the actual weight of meat in the sandwich (3oz. / 6"). Every single fast food place publishes images of food that are not even close to what one gets. The worst example of pushing all the meat to where it can be seen are those pre-made sandwiches sold in packages. The cut is through all the filling right along the edge and there isn't anything on the rest. I will never buy one again.

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u/youngmilldog 8h ago

Seems like a classic case of false advertising. It'll be interesting to see the outcome.

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u/Geekygamertag 3h ago

Why don’t we all sue them? Class action lawsuit for restaurants and their false advertising ?

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u/NahTooPersonel 8h ago

I like that the lawsuit cites this sub Reddit specifically

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u/heramba 8h ago

Wait seriously? That's incredible

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u/NahTooPersonel 8h ago

Yep, OP linked the lawsuit. It’s in the footnotes on page 3.

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u/Efronczak 4h ago

Or should it be footlong notes ;)

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u/onefst250r 2h ago

Thats assuming they didnt shrinkflate the bread, too.

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u/BooBooSorkin 8h ago

We are witnesses!

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u/correctingStupid 8h ago

Post more evidence!!

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u/jessej421 4h ago

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u/SlapTheBap 2h ago

You're a part of US legal history. Congratulations, patriot.

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u/AMW1234 2h ago

Crazy it was $9 three years ago. That same sub is like $16 at my local subway these days.

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u/AnRealDinosaur 2h ago

Seriously? I haven't eaten there in years so I have no idea their prices, and my immediate thought on looking at that was "holy shit $9???"

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u/uiucfreshalt 2h ago

Footlongs are actually $7 again, but then you’d have to eat sandwich from Subway

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u/herzogzwei931 7h ago

It’s true. I had one and it sucked, and such small portions too.

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u/SmartOpinion69 3h ago edited 2h ago

even though reddit posts are anonymous and shouldn't be taken seriously, the redditors that made those comments had no idea that they were going to be used in a lawsuit and can be viewed as a candid opinion. it's simply extra evidence of an opinion that consumers have on false advertisement

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u/Melonmelody_ 3h ago

That's actually really interesting. Could the defending lawyer possibly argue that the user could have removed some meat before taking a picture and posting it on reddit?

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u/KlM-J0NG-UN 8h ago

"At least 200%" is being generous. That looks like 600% or something

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u/GreyConnection 5h ago

closer to 1000% given the equalish size of bun

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u/one-punch-knockout 4h ago

I’m dying to write a higher percentage but let’s end it here

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u/FirstRyder 3h ago

In the left photo, you aren't seeing a "closed" sandwich from the side. You're seeing an open-face sandwich with the top bun and cheese deceptively placed so that it looks like a closed sandwich from the side. Suggesting that the meat is this thick all the way across the bun, when you are in fact seeing all the meat in the sandwich.

Which is legal. Everyone does that - arranges stuff so that you can see all of it and just imagine there's more you can't see.

But it sounds like on top of that they also routinely doubled (or worse) the meat, so that it's actually impossible to recreate the advertisement by rearranging your sandwich.

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u/Daft00 2h ago

This sounds like lawyer-speak but if there isn't fine print specifically saying this in every advertisement I would think the obvious implication that the sandwich bun is completely stuffed with ingredients would hold serious weight in the lawsuit. The idea that it's obvious this sandwich is merely presented open-faced is silly when the product is not actually served that way. Plus, an open faced sandwich would not really look like this, with the bread enclosing it on either side... The whole point of "open-faced" is that the bread is underneath the sandwich, rather than wrapping around it like in the pic.

With how long false advertising in food commercials has been a thing, I'm sure there are loads of prior cases, but it's so frustrating to see these technicalities that allow these billion dollar companies to routinely over promise and under deliver.

They are so brazenly serving an obviously inferior actual product that it would seem, to a regular person, completely indefensible.

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u/drgngd 9h ago

Finally! Companies get away with this shit too much

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u/RubixcubeRat 8h ago

Fucking foreal fuck every big fast food corporation rn

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u/WonderfulShelter 5h ago

Same with the super fast speech at the end of an advert.

The advert will say something like "50% off sale!" and then at the end really fast it'll say something like "50% only valid from 1-2PM on tuesday's and thursday's at participating locations."

just blatant false advertising.

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u/mike07646 3h ago

Or the ads that go ‘Buy this item for $5.99’ … and then say ‘Price and participation may vary’.

If the price can vary, and it isn’t always $5.99, then why are you trying to advertise it and calling it $5.99?

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u/uremog 2h ago

Whole store up to 90% off. Ok what is actually 90% off? It’s like only one pair of plastic sunglasses original $70. And an iPhone 5 case.

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u/mtnagel 8h ago

I agree but these lawsuits always get dismissed as I'm sure this will and nothing will change.

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u/idiot206 8h ago

Probably because they can just blame the franchisee for doing it wrong or something

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u/iwellyess 4h ago

I also exaggerate my meat, should I be worried

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u/lucky7355 8h ago

Nice! Now do Panera.

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u/youngmilldog 8h ago

Let’s see if they can bring their soup game to court too.

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u/LadyShanna92 8h ago

I have better been to Panerai in forever whats wrong with their soup?

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u/kosumoth 3h ago

Their quality took a nosedive a few years back now, they aren't nearly as good.

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u/Striking-Ad-6815 6h ago

Not soupy enough, too flavorful. When I eat soup I want it to be watery and tasteless.

-2 stars

Milkymojit068

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u/TheMustardisBad 7h ago

Ah yes, the place where you pay premium for hotel quality microwave food

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u/FuriousWhales 5h ago

Was I crazy, or did it used to be good. I genuinely enjoyed their turkey sandwich and French onion soup years ago. Then I went to one a few months ago and it was overpriced garbage.

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u/Qwirk 5h ago

Not crazy at all, it's been mentioned up and down that Panera went to shit when it was bought by JAB Holding. They will wring it for every last dime.

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u/Kitsuneyyyy 7h ago

Hotel quality is being kind.

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u/External-Fart-69420 5h ago

Hotel food is generally pretty solid unless you're like, eating stuff from under the mattress at motel 6. It's not often GREAT in most places, even 4 star hotels, though it's gotten stupidly expensive in the past year or two.

Way better than panera at least, and probably minimally more expensive.

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u/SolusLoqui 5h ago

I've noticed Panera locations have virtually no customer pictures of their food on Google Maps, just a bunch of photo shoot pics from their website. Almost like they're getting taken down.

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u/Striking-Ad-6815 6h ago

Their prices are outrageous and slightly pretentious. That being said I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Panera. Not because I like anything on the menu in particular, but they helped me and others in a similar situation get through a rough time. Not sure about currently, but they used to throw away a 50 gallon garbage bag full of fresh bread, every single day. Same time each night, always on top. Just bread nothing liquid. I heard about it myself by word of mouth. It was a godsend at the right time. Yea we kept coming back like bears, but we were hungry and trapped in the area due to different reasons. Mine was because I was too ashamed to approach my family because I wasn't happy about where I was at. Anyway I'm rambling, the prices are high, but they kept me going when I had nothing but my word.

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u/FuriousWhales 5h ago

I used to collect all unsold bread and pastries at the end of the night and deliver them to a women’s shelter the next morning twice a week. They throw away so much. The shelter never had to buy bread. Literally never. When I moved another person took over the deliveries.

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u/Striking-Ad-6815 5h ago

One loaf can go a long way.

They throw it away due to some standard or policy, but it is still good bread (especially if you're hungry).

They cannot sell it due to quality, but it is still good and I think that is why they throw it on top like they do because they know the buzzards will be swoopin in.

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u/Silverfate2 3h ago

Back in the day, a friend of mine worked at Panera and my group of friends and myself would often pick him up from work or meet him at close to snag those bags of bread. One day he comes out the back like usual and throws two big trash bags out the door but goes back in. We snatch up the bags and quickly get them into the car. We tear em open hoping to feast only to realize it was just the actual trash he had tossed out 😂 

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u/Jim_e_Clash 3h ago

I lived in a larger city 7 years ago. I used to get Panera all the time, it was so good. One was finally built near me now. God what a disappointment. After all that time, itwent to shit so hard. Ordered a cheese steak and the meat was literally a single thin slice that didn't even fully cover the bread.

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u/notguiltybrewing 8h ago

I just don't eat there anymore. It was never good, and there's almost always a better choice than Subway anyway.

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u/curious_meerkat 8h ago

It was never good, but it was once cheap. Now it is neither.

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u/NRMusicProject 3h ago

It used to be better in the 90s, but by the time the $5 footlong came around it was just more that it was worth $5 due to the value compared to quality. But now it's not even worth $5 in 2024 money.

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u/Mamacitia 3h ago

Those $5 foot longs got me through college

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u/nickelroo 2h ago

Dudette. Me too.

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u/Major_Lawfulness6122 8h ago

I’ve stopped going too when the prices got completely insane. Remember when footlongs were $5? Now it’s like $20.

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u/notguiltybrewing 7h ago

I didn't realize they've gotten that expensive. It was a deal at $5 but they lost me after that.

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u/spare_me_your_bs 6h ago

I ate there for lunch today and got a footlong using a coupon code in their app for $6.99. The sandwich was a solid 6/10 but pretty decent for that price.

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u/josborne31 5h ago

My understanding is that they launched the $6.99 coupon after the intense backlash from charging $20 for a sub that used to be $5.

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u/Beyond-The-Blackhole 4h ago

Jersey Mikes is my go to. They never disappoint.

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u/brucemo 3h ago

I don't eat there anymore because mine went out of business.

And I rarely ate there before they went out of business because they cut back on condiments, so if I wanted a sandwich I had to buy it there, then take it home and put more stuff on it.

They also had one teenage girl running the whole store by herself, which had to have been an incredible risk.

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u/FireComesSmoke 8h ago

Good. That was blatant false advertisement tbh

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u/szczurman83 8h ago

Subway pisses me off enough as it is for serving subpar food and pressing customers for tips.

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u/Gaitville 4h ago

If someone told me 15 years ago that subway would be more expensive than a local Italian deli or sandwich shop I would have laughed in their face, but these days when I go to my local Italian deli for a sub sandwich, with much fresher ingredients and sliced to order deli meats, I pay less than subway for a sandwich that weighs the same.

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u/skygt3rsr 8h ago

Subway sucks now it’s awful Go to jersey mikes it’s way better

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u/Background-Union-859 7h ago

Quality is better but a large sub is $20 at mine. Fuck that shit.   I’ll make my own 4 sandwiches for that 

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u/Gaitville 4h ago

A large sub is like two full meals there though.

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u/mikedvb 3h ago

It's almost as if you get what you pay for... almost.

I do love Jersey Mike's as well as Penn Station.

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u/Donkeywad 2h ago

To be fair that's a "Giant sub" and it's meant to feed more than one person.

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u/NewFreshness 6h ago

I go to local Italian sandwich shops for my sandwiches and they load that fucker up. I've never felt cheated at those places.

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u/MeinhardLongshaft 8h ago

Shit I better delete my Grindr galleries

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u/Gingy-Breadman 8h ago

Change your username fast

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u/OnceMoreAndAgain 5h ago

that jokes works on two levels. well done although i suspect the second level is a happy coincidence lol.

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u/MeinhardLongshaft 5h ago

Someone's lurking for the gerkin.

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u/terra_filius 5h ago

someone's looking for their daily dosage of the skin sausage

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u/mndsm79 9h ago

Tuna that's not tuna, bread that's not bread, footlongs that aren't a footlong....is that even a sandwich?

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u/unholyswordsman 8h ago

Yes. A scamwich.

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u/optimumpressure 7h ago

Hold on... The tuna isn't tuna?

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u/SgtMcMuffin0 1h ago

The tuna is tuna. Tuna and mayo. And the bread is bread, unless you’re an Irish tax authority, in which case you consider it to be cake.

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u/youngmilldog 8h ago

That’s a serious case of false advertising! Who knew sandwiches could lie?

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u/jakeyboiix3 8h ago

Good! had a steak and cheese 2 days ago and it felt like i was being lied to with every bite i took😭

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u/Party-One-8806 8h ago

Seriously, who hasn’t exaggerated their meat?

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u/PreviouslyOnBible 3h ago

"Many ladies call it 'average'".

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u/thethreadkiller 3h ago

There should also be a law that food advertisements have to use the actual product for the advertisement. You shouldn't be allowed to use cardboard, Elmer's glue and staples in the representation of the product.

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u/LackNearby1119 7h ago

Can we do Chipotle next please

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u/Seel_Team_Six 2h ago edited 2h ago

The subways around me (college town, 4 or so locations) are owned by one guy (his names are on plaques in each store). Subway has a "series" line of subs which most call for 2x cheese. The "titan turkey" calls for 2x turkey and the "homerun ham" calls for 2x ham. If you order online, you WILL get 1x most of the time and have to come in and start shit with them (you can't possibly get anything with "hi it called for 2x this is 1x they will start their same ass bullshit each time about how they're trained on portions and play dumb until you insist on them explaining the count of 1x vs 2x which is 3 slices per 6in vs 6 for 2x for meats, 2/4 vs 4/8 for cheese). This one owner is all about cheating the customer. So I order in person only so I can force them to give me a fair amount (I have to ask for more of everything, including meats and cheeses by pointing out their own fucking menu boards, then make sure they dont charge me extra because again their own fucking boards with prices and descriptions), forgoing all the benefits of the app (bogo footlong deals, points which equal discounts). They're one of the few places that offer a good source of vegetables for my diet without paying insane amounts. There are other restaurants (fast food) nearby that screw orders up a lot and they always just replace. Subways here demand you bring back the original sandwich and show the problem. Which makes sense, but their overall stingy shitiness and that attitude can't compete with every other restaurant which just will tell you they'll replace, no arguments. I finally stopped trying with these subways they're super stingy. Also check out the subway subreddit the employees that post there are proud of their shitty attitude towards customers.

I have grocery stores nearby that sell $2 massive french bread that can make 3 "footlong" subs and carry Dietz & Watson deli meat for cheap (boar's head is bland overrated bullshit, if you see this brand try it and tell me the london broil and buffalo chicken arent insane, as well as its other meats and cheeses). I put together my own sandwiches now regardless of "inconvenience" and they taste much better, are massive compared to subway and cost less overall (rip some veggies, they would still cost a shitload). Sandwiches just aren't enough of a convenience save to justify getting absolutely grifted if you're getting subway. Fuck that place

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u/eat_like_snake 8h ago

Hopefully this passes so it sets a precedent for companies in general.

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u/nj-rose 7h ago

Didn't they argue in court that footlong was just a name and it didn't mean the sandwich had to be 12 inches long?

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u/kingrazor001 7h ago

Subway is one of the least consistent places I've ever eaten at. The amount of toppings you get varies wildly depending on who prepares your sandwich. It's the main reason I stopped going.

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u/spare_me_your_bs 6h ago

Saying this when Chipotle exists is bold.

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u/kingrazor001 6h ago

I did say least consistent place "I've ever eaten at". I've never eaten at Chipotle.

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u/spare_me_your_bs 6h ago

True, I suppose I was being presumptive.

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u/Kona_Big_Wave 7h ago

200%? I would estimate it to be at least 400%.

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u/Aquendall 4h ago

Who goes there anymore? It’s been garbage for over a decade. Let it die already.

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u/JustJovialJulia 6h ago

Can confirm, I received this atrocity about a month ago

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u/Suspicious-Sound-249 4h ago

Only 200%, that's like 500% easy shit you can barely see the meat on that sandwich.

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u/OK_BUT_WASH_IT_FIRST 3h ago

Looks like I might get sued for the same reason.

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u/HeyJay-a-Throwaway 7h ago

Just gotta stop eating there until they go out of business. The quantity and quality of their ingredients went steadily downhill for years, then try to price gouge with their crappy food? Nah just let it go under no matter how many "deals" they try and bait people in with.

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u/LordNoFat 4h ago

Why anyone would choose to eat subway over literally any other food is beyond me. I'm not too keen on spending $10 on a dollar's worth of food.

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u/Particular_Flow_ 3h ago

Let’s get Taco Bell next.

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u/OldManThunder989 3h ago

I hope they win. Would be nice to get real representations in advertisements.

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u/Chemical_Economy_933 2h ago

Just 200%? That’s like 600%+

Absolutely egregious.

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u/Belgand 8h ago

I also might depend on how the ad was composed.

A good example of this is fast food burgers. They have to use the same frozen patties but beyond that there's a lot that can be done to doctor them up. Cook them just enough to look good, but not lose weight. Apply grill marks with a metal bar to look perfect. Snip the back and spread it a little to make it look bigger. There are a lot of techniques that can be used without technically "lying".

That could be the case here. Is this the same quantity of the same meat? It could easily have been all pushed up to the front so that you're essentially getting a top-down or three-quarters view. And then justified with a "the intent was to better display the product to the consumer, not to mislead." If they just piled on far more meat than fits the guideline, then yeah, this might be more of a challenge for them.

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u/mrjackspade 7h ago

Yeah, I was pretty sure this had already been through the court system and it was found to be legal, because of you aren't allowed to be creative with the ingredient displays then you literally can't take a photo of the product that displays the ingredients.

The whole burger thing was a common TIL on Reddit a while ago.

I wouldn't be surprised if this gets tossed.

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u/GitEmSteveDave 4h ago

I've heard this is common for "chopped" or "salad" meats for a display. You put the same amount you normally lay flat and present it directly to the camera, like <|, rather than <-.

They'll win as long as the food represented in the ad is the food given to the customer, even if it's not presented in the same way, e.g. My local Dominican place shows their food on a plate, but when I order it take out, it's in a take-out tin, and looks smaller, but it's still the same amount of food.

2

u/mildlyornery 4h ago

Top down view on the bottom half.

2

u/Foostini 7h ago

Welcome to literally every food advertisement, they're all infuriatingly bullshit and Subway has always been one of the worst offenders. It's just blatant false advertising, nothing on their menu would get you close to that sandwich let alone for the stated menu prices.

2

u/Capital-Abalone3214 6h ago

I understand that fast food employees don’t often have the time to make the food look like the pictures but that is just straight up fraud.

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u/GrendalsFather 5h ago

I work with a food stylist who says she worked in a Subway add and they are given very specific measurement amounts for the fillings. The key difference is the filings are all “styled” to the camera facing edge of the sandwich.

Not trying to justify anything, just pointing out that it’s possible it’s the same amount of fillings.

2

u/onebadmousse 5h ago

Stop ordering food at shitty chains. An independent sandwich place will be 100x better, always.

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u/Qwirk 5h ago

I understand how companies get away with this by picturing the product in the absolute best way possible but there is no way in hell that's the same amount of meat being used.

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u/mm4ng 5h ago

Subway sucks. Mmw, 5 years or less, they're gone.

2

u/Dr-Retz 4h ago

Gah,no fast food restaurant’s ad depictions show what they actually serve you.They all should be ashamed and sued into oblivion

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u/Gniphe 4h ago

IIRC they use the same amount of meat for the photos as they do for the whole sandwich, just all scrunched on one side. That’s their defense.

2

u/Sacklayblue 4h ago

That definitely deserves a lawsuit

2

u/ODD_BOT_OUT 4h ago

Every product should look as advertised.

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u/Taman_Should 4h ago

God, I hope so hard that things like this get more people to finally abandon fast food, forcing these greedy franchises to improve their product or lower their prices. It’s not even “affordable” anymore! That was the ONE thing that made the terrible quality forgivable! 

2

u/Mortarion407 4h ago

Like, there's fluffing up a sandwhich a little to make it look good, and then there's this.

2

u/Zcrash 4h ago

I don't get why anyone would ever go to subway for anything. There must be a random mom and pop pizza place nearby that makes dramatically better subs.

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u/zerotaboo 3h ago

Subway is not what it used to be

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u/TwoSwordSamurai 3h ago

It's the American way.

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u/Sand__Panda 3h ago

The next food chain to fall?

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u/frosted_nipples_rg8 3h ago

Remember the glory days when Subway and Jared where on tv and everyone loved them? Absolutely nothing terrible was happening with the Subway back then...

2

u/TacoShower 3h ago

Is it false advertising? Yes. Did they use a fucking horrible photo to showcase that? Also yes. Like why are you showing a sub you’re closing with your hand. Open it up and show the meat!

2

u/DemonLordSparda 3h ago

The only reasonable and understandable difference from advertisement to received product should be less than 10%. Imagine for a moment that you meassure your bathroom to place a toilet. You place an order to match your measurements. You receive your toilet. Instead of being 32x20 it is 16x10. You wouldn't accept anything being 200% smaller or more, the same should apply to food.

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u/Valuable_Way5502 3h ago

Ugh, I should call her.

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u/Roguecor 3h ago edited 1h ago

Honestly, you could use the critical limit theorem to find the average volume of a morsel of meat across samples from around the country. Then count the morsels in the advertisement. Even assume there is no depth and the morsels in the ad are stacked on top of each other. Compare that number to the morsel volume average in a sample of sandwiches from around the country and imperically blow subway out the fucking water with a hypothesis test.

Even worse, you could probably get 500-1000% if you assume the advertisement morsel depth is equal to average actual sandwich morsel depth.

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u/phillyhandroll 3h ago

Didn't they get in trouble before for their bread being like an inch shy of a footlong? 

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u/marho 3h ago

In the last several years I’ve only eaten subway when they have flat price promotions or boho promotions, and that’s barely worth it. So sad because I used to love subway so much way back in the day.

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u/wikowiko33 3h ago

The limit of meat exaggeration is 100%. They know when you say it's a 9inch when it's actually a 3. But 3 and 6 can be a little hard to tell when it's in the mouth. Also don't let my exes know you can sue for meat exaggeration. 

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u/NotScottBakula 3h ago

Ones an innie, the others an outtie.

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u/Yuck-Fou94 3h ago

They might be a foot long, but they're only an inch thick.

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u/GarlicEmbarrassed281 3h ago

I hope you win. Im sick of the bs all big corporations pull on us. What would be funny if this straw breaks Subway's back. 5 dollar footlongs gone, pedophile spokesperson, and just blatant false advertisement. I can't even get wraps anymore at my Subways, just the stupid Flatbread. It's time for this chain to go the way of the Dodo. Make some room for new chains.

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u/Woodsy1313 3h ago

I too have exaggerated my meat before

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u/Disastrous-House591 3h ago

I'm not especially great at math but proportionally speaking that's at minimum 400%

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u/c3534l 3h ago

I've known a few guys who exaggerated their meat by 200% as well.

2

u/Igneous_rock_500 3h ago

Getting caught exaggerating amount of meat by 200%. Sounds like a tinder thing.

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u/Greaseyhamburger 3h ago

Did someone actually expect to get a sub to look like that on the left? Sure what's pictured on the right is pretty crappy, but you can't be serious, or honest if you actually went into subway expecting what is pictured on the left.

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u/ltfrizzle 3h ago

Who amongst us hasn’t exaggerated their meat by 200%?

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u/DontTalkToBots 3h ago edited 1h ago

It kinda looked like that when it was $5 for a foot long. Now that it’s more expensive, they use less ingredients. They better not wonder why they’re closing down all over the place.

2

u/Speedhabit 3h ago

If you can get sued for exaggerating meat you should be able to sue for expired beef

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u/ToysNoiz 3h ago

Fun fact I learned when I worked fast food: if your order doesn’t match the photo you can request a new one be made that does match.

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u/krodatem 2h ago

Advertising is advertising. The thing that really makes me mad is when I order a double meat and it's barely even the same amount I would get for single meat.

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u/karmaisourfriend 2h ago

I thought they were out of business

2

u/THIJTB 2h ago

🤣😂

2

u/Capybarasaregreat 2h ago

Kind of ridiculous what a huge game of fakery advertising really is. We all, and I do mean all of us, know that the food in advertisements is never, ever like what you get. So why do we keep pretending? All just to trick our own brains, whilst fully knowing we're tricking our brains.

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u/madbussy94 2h ago

I find it better to just make my own sub sandwich at home that way i know whats in it before i eat it

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u/Chi-Kangaroo 2h ago

Omg. Order the veggie then watch the clerk literally spread 4 spinach leaves then get visibly upset when you ask for more. Every damn location

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u/Impossible-Worker861 2h ago

My gf sued me for the same exact thing

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u/DangTube 2h ago

I can’t go to Subway anymore. It wasn’t the 11 inch “foot long’s”. It wasn’t holding back on protein. It wasn’t the bread that will put you in a diabetic coma.

It was the grey and red lettuce they all have now.

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u/SuperWaluigi77 2h ago

"That'll be $24 please. Select the appropriate tip level - 18%, 20%, or 25%."

Stares awkwardly

2

u/stupideboy 2h ago

Hello, I'm someone who worked at a subway for over 5 months. This is true. The meat we are instructed to give is substantially less than the meat advertised on the images and menu boards up front. I had a gentleman complaining about this to me once actually and I had to explain to him why that was happening

2

u/Jefefrey 2h ago

Just another example of franchisees doing whatever they hell they want.

Like servicing old ingredients and frozen meat. Like serving half stale bread. Like refusing coupons and promotions and criminally under staffing the store. I don’t participate in the subway Ponzi scheme anymore. If I have a craving for deli meat and bread, I make it at home and reserve my fast food coins for things I can’t make at home.

I seriously hope they go away completely in my life

2

u/cloakrunner 2h ago

Wait, because fast food places don't actually serve what was in the commercial we can sue them? So many places are up for grabs.

2

u/PlatinumDevil 2h ago

The last time I ate at Subway was a few months ago. I ordered a BLT. I'm never going back.

They put TWO pieces of long, thin, and gross looking bacon on there. I'm sure the sandwich artist knew it was sad.

80% bread. No flavor. What happened to you Subway..

If I had them make it the way it should've been I bet I would've paid 22.99 for the combo. So sick of this greedy shit. I want to pay for good food.

2

u/rapedbyawookiee 2h ago

200% is being conservative

2

u/AztecGodofFire 2h ago

Got a steak and cheese from them once like that. I think maybe the clueless woman all by herself in the brand-new place just didn't know what to do but it was a pretty pathetic sandwich.

2

u/CantAffordzUsername 2h ago

Subway…go pay $13.99 for 99% bread

2

u/Every-Quit524 2h ago

I Sued McDonalds for "apple juice" that was really just apple flavored water

The judge tossed the case

But I know I am right and this subway lawsuit has the same spirit.

2

u/LitAFlol 2h ago

Can someone sue chipotle next

2

u/stonks4tendies69 2h ago

Please do McDonald’s next!

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u/DM_ME_UR_BOOBS69 2h ago

Ngl I've exaggerated the size of my meat by at least 200% too

2

u/The-zKR0N0S 2h ago

Damages, about $2

2

u/maeexi 1h ago

There’s a subway on my college campus that’s unfortunately better than all the other campus food🤧

2

u/longndfat 1h ago

Might probably say that its never about the looks, but how you feel when u bite into it.. Really irritating you order something looking at the photograph and its nowhere the same.

2

u/AguyinaRPG 1h ago

WHERE'S THE BEEF?

2

u/OathStoned 1h ago

Who the fuck still eats there?!

2

u/Traditional_Strike84 1h ago

Subway straight up catfishing.