Jared Fogle has given Subway a public relations nightmare

Jared Fogle has given Subway a public relations nightmare

As Jared Fogle is charged with sex crimes, Subway now has some very big problems on its hands.

Subway is in the midst of a public-relations nightmare the likes of which most companies will never experience — and they can thank Jared Fogle for that.

Fogle has been the pitchman for the brand for the past 15 years, ever since his story of losing a huge amount of weight by sticking to a strict Subway diet prompted the company to make him the face of the brand. But that all crumbled to the ground in a flash recently, when he was charged with possessing child pornography and even paying for sex with minors, according to a Business Insider report. He is expected to plead guilty.

Fogle was huge for the Subway brand, with estimates indicating that he contributed to half of Subway’s growth ever since becoming the pitchman after dropping 200 pounds.

Once the FBI raided his home in Indiana, Subway immediately cut all ties, claiming ignorance of his actions, even though at least one person has claimed to have told the company about his actions only for it to land on deaf ears.

Now, the name Jared Fogle conjures up not just Subway, but also connections with sex crimes — not exactly something you want your band associated with, but they are so deeply connected to Fogle there’s no way to disconnect the two. The only silver lining is that customers probably won’t blame Subway for the situation.

But Fogle isn’t the only problem for the company. Without Fogle, they face a steep sales decline. Last year, sales dropped 3 percent to $11.9 billion despite a big expansion initiative: 778 new stores were opened.

It was the steepest decline for any fast food chain in the top 25 last year. Even McDonald’s, which has been struggling as of late, only had a 2.2 percent decline.

Subway, which rocketed up the restaurant chains rankings by advertising healthier, fresher alternative to typical fast food right around the time that America was starting to become more health-conscious. They championed made-to-order sandwiches, which resonated with customers.

But now they face stiff competition from others, like Chipotle and Panera Bread. They’ve taken “fresher” to a new level by promising meats without antibiotics and foods without additives.

So as it turns out, Fogle might be the least of their problems.

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