PrintNot All Sandwiches Are Created Equal
Newsflash: Eating fast food cheeseburgers can make you fat. Subway would like you to believe this is the one and only way you're going to kill yourself with food, and they're not afraid to say it. Please consider the following ad, the latest in Subway's relentless attack on the competition:
Funny, right? You can tell from the size of the man's "hoochie mama" behind that he's been eating at Burger Town—so much so that he doesn't need a receipt to prove it. The solution? A six-inch ham and cheese sub from Subway, of course! And while that particular sandwich can have as few as 334 calories and 8 grams of fat, as soon as you add toppings or dressing, those numbers can climb substantially.
Who's going to eat a ham and cheese dry? Sure, you could. But is six inches of condiment-free sandwich a satisfying and filling lunch? My guess is, not for the guy in the ad. Make that a foot-long, of course, and you've just doubled the load.
Let's not stop there, because Subway won't. Chips, a cookie, and a drink will all be offered at the checkout. That's extra calories, fat, and filling; what a deal!
Jared lost weight on the Subway diet, and you could too. Then again, they don't promise it, and they don't even endorse it. They do, however, tout and imply it. And that's what's burning me up. Eating anywhere else will make you fat and sad, according to Subway.
In that case, I'm ordering a Double Stacked Steak and Cheese, please, because, "the only thing better than tasty steak and cheese is tasty steak and cheese with more tasty steak and cheese on top of it". "Over half a pound of marinated steak" sounds delicious! Where is that nutritional information, again? Most of the sandwiches on Subway's website have a handy "nutrition" button in the lower right corner, but not the Double Stacked Steak and Cheese. Looking elsewhere, assuming this is the same sandwich as the "Double Meat Steak and Cheese", six inches packs 540 calories and 18 grams of fat. A McDonald's Big Mac has 540 calories and 29 grams of fat. That's still more fat than the Subway sandwich, but—wait a minute, the Big Mac's total includes "Special Sauce", while the Double Meat Steak and Cheese remains undressed. Adding 1 teaspoon (I'll save my editorial on sandwich artists and their absurdly liberal dressing habits for another time) of light mayonnaise brings that total up 50 calories and 5 grams of fat. One teaspoon of regular mayonnaise is 110 calories, 12 grams of fat. Oil and vinegar, salt and pepper? That's another 45 calories and 5 grams of fat, and well over what you'll get from a Big Mac. A Burger King Whopper rings in at 670 calories, 39 grams of fat, which at this point is pretty similar to our six-inch Double Stacked Steak and Cheese. Pass the badonkadonk, please.
On any given night or channel, you can see both the burger-bashing ads and one for the Subway Feast, which clocks in at similar (but higher) numbers to the Double Stacked Steak and Cheese, and brags of its size:
The very spirit of this ad angers me, especially when juxtaposed with the others. Here's officially fat man Peter Griffin celebrating a sandwich "as big as my head", and daring Jared to do better. It's Subway being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, while at the same time, claiming to satisfy all parties. It's a problem many people struggle with: the desire to lose weight versus the desire for salty, fattening foods. Eating healthily isn't easy, and it often requires sacrifices. Eating at "Burger Town" isn't going to make you skinnier, but neither does eating at Subway.
I'm not suggesting Subway shouldn't make these sandwiches, or that they shouldn't be proud of the fact that they're offering somewhat healthier alternatives. They should, and good for them. I relish my freedom to eat any kind of sandwich I choose. What I don't appreciate, however, is Subway trying to have it both ways. Vilifying other fast food establishments for their unhealthy habits while at the same time glorifying equally bankrupt nutritional choices is misleading and disingenuous. You can't have your cake, eat it, and expect not to have to pay for it too.
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5 Comments:
This is why i hate Subway. they are so full of it. I used to work at one of these, and you are so right about the Liberal sandwich toppings, ive had a boss tell me to only put 3 slices of olive on each sandwich, unless "the customer wants more" well of course they more.subway is for sucks
Sancho231 at 4:23PM on 01/15/08
Lauren: Eloquent and smart argument. However, you're dealing with a business whose primary focus is on profit gained by promoting itself to as many target consumers as possible. You're writing for Serious Eats where Ed Levine features Michael Pollan's most recent book and advocates its tenets, if with reservations. At the same time, instead of simply losing weight by eating less, mostly plants and exercising, he is snacking on processed foods with brand names and asking members to identify the food products get them through their diets. The web site depends on revenue from advertising breaded patties of vegetable-like stuff for breakfast. Hypocrisy? Or merely a sign that we, like every text in the hands of deconstructionists, are full of contradictions. Theory or praxis?
Eliz. at 5:50PM on 01/15/08
Touche, Eliz. Point well-taken.
Ed Levine at 7:50PM on 01/15/08
Let me say first, that I'm an extreme AHT fan. This is my favorite site, and I hope to be a burgermeister someday myself. There's always room for more quality joints.
Currently I'm Subway franchisee so that will have to wait. Subway's a great business to own, in fact one of the least expensive franchises to get into, "What a country." The reason Subway is one of the most difficult to work at is simple, customers are a-holes and they take it out on employees all too often. Sure, the majority of customers are nice, but there's a high percentage of customers who look down on the people making their sandwich and I think that gets to employees after a while. Physically, it's pretty demanding as well. I don't blame former employees bagging on Subway, it's a tough business. I should know as I work my store every day.
The reason customers get three olives is, just like every other franchise, there is a formula for every sandwich, including the veggies. At the burger joint you don't ususally get to see your sandwich being assembled and tell people what you want on it. At Subway you get to stand there, as I witnessed a countless number of times watching people stare at their sandwich saying "more..., more..., more.." until they have an olive sandwich (or whatever topping turns them on). Trust me, most customers get everything they want at Subway because they are in complete control, much more so than at the burger joints. I believe that's the #1 reason for Subway's success. Especially with women, women are extremely picky and it's a match made in heaven. There are some unscrupulous owners who charge extra for extra veggies, but that's not the norm, and Subway certainly doesn't allow it. If they catch you, you are written out of compliance, which can prevent you from getting new stores.
To the point though, if you want a lowfat sandwich at Subway that's what you'll get. I noticed you didn't reference any of Subway's fat free dressings, most stores carry at least three. They're pretty decent considereng they are fat free. Also, we use light mayo on the "bain" and our light mayo has only 50% less fat than regular mayo. I don't understand how one teaspoon of light had 1 gram and regular had 12 grams per teaspoon. Something doesn't sound right.
The bottom line is I sell a ton of low fat no mayo sandwiches, primarily to women, (turkey breast is #1 with the chicks) with either/or fat free dressing, mustard, or vinegar. On the other hand, I sell a lot of 1/2 pound footlongs (sometimes double meat, a full pound of fully cooked meat) of pastrami, or carne asada, to you guessed it, men. The double meat pastrami or carne asada is too much meat for anyone to eat on a regular basis. We have a hard time closing those sandwiches with just the meat added. Obviously, the only reason Subway came out with heavy meat sandwiches is in response to the "six dollar" burgers.
Myself, I like the "Feast" sandwich, I was making those for myself at those stores three years ago. It's just an italian sub with turkey and roast beef added. Salt and pepper, oil and vinegar on mine.
I will give you what Fred Deluca told us when I was in franchisee school. People come to Subway for customer service, clean stores, and a perception of value. Subway doesn't try be the low price leader, or gourmet, Subway wants customers to enjoy their sandwich and feel they got what they paid for. Contrary to what a lot of people might say, customer service is #1 with DAI. No matter what food you sell in the QSR business, if you don't have customer service, they don't come back.
The two reasons for Subway's explosive growth: Baking bread in store, an Jared. Apparently those two things changed everything.
tjmile1 at 12:08PM on 01/16/08
Tjmile1: Good catch on the light mayo thing. It's actually 5 grams of fat, and now it's fixed.
As I stated, there's nothing wrong with what Subway serves. As an equal opportunity sandwich eater, I'm pleased that they run the gamut from apple slices to The Feast. Yes, you can choose low or no fat dressings, and that's terrific. But you can also make smarter choices at "Burger Town". I'm just sticking up for burgers here; it seems someone has to.
Lauren Krueger at 2:31PM on 01/16/08