Skimpy Sub
While watching TV recently with my kids, I lamented today’s commercials. I said ads from the ‘80s were clever and funny – today’s are just boring. Of course, my kids rolled their eyes at yet another of my elderly tirades.
So, to prove my point, I shared with them some of Wendy’s ads featuring Clara Peller, the cantankerous old lady who rose to international fame for her catchphrase, “Where’s the beef?!,” that she proclaimed after visiting other burger joints with teeny hamburger patties. Much to their chagrin, my kids had to admit that the commercials were pretty great.
Well, Anna Tollison is apparently reviving Wendy’s slogan.
On August 23, Tollison ordered a steak-and-cheese sandwich through Subway’s mobile app for $6.99 plus tax, then picked up the sub at a location in Jamaica, New York. When she began eating her sandwich, Tollison realized that there was “barely any steak in the sandwich.” She ordered the sub after seeing advertisements for it, but claimed that “the photographs that she relied on were grossly misleading.”
So, last month, Tollison filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Subway. She accuses the sandwich chain of “unfair and deceptive trade practices” that amount to “egregious” violations of the state’s consumer protection laws. She claims Subway is selling its steak-and-cheese sandwiches based on “false and misleading advertisements” that show customers getting at least three times more meat than is actually in the product.
Tollison accuses Subway of using “photographs in its advertisements that make it appear that the Steak & Cheese sandwich contains at least 200% more meat than the actual sandwiches that customers receive.” The lawsuit states that, “Subway’s advertisements for the product are unfair and financially damaging to consumers as they are receiving a product that is materially lower in value than what is being represented.”
“Subway actions are especially concerning now that inflation, food, and meat prices are very high and many consumers, especially lower income consumers, are struggling financially,” Tollison asserts in her suit. She says that Subway’s promise of a portion that is larger is “causing consumers to come to, or order from, Subway restaurants and make purchases that they would not have otherwise made.”
The suit cites complaints from other Subway customers on social media who have posted images of their sandwich orders next to the company’s ads to show the disparity of fixings. The class action suit seeks unspecified damages for New Yorkers who bought steak-and-cheese sandwiches in the last three years from Oct. 28, 2021.
This is not Subway’s first forray in court. The chain has previously defended themselves against a lawsuit for more than four years after customers sued for false adverstising, claiming that their “footlong” sandwiches were too short. That case was dismissed in 2017.
In 2021, Ireland’s Supreme Court issued a ruling declaring that for the purposes of tax law, the bread served in Subway’s hot sandwiches does not actually meet the legal definition of “bread” because of its sugar content and is rather a “confectionary or fancy baked good.”
In 2016, Subway was sued by Kathleen McLaughlin, the ex-wife of Jared Fogle, the chain’s former spokesman who plead guilty to the distribution and receipt of child pornography and of traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. The suit alleged that McLaughlin was damaged by Subway for covering up at least three instances of Fogle’s illegal behavior that were reported to senior management. The suit was dismissed because the court lacked jurisdiction.
Subway may not put enough steak in their sandwiches, but they have plenty of beefs.
Reg P. Wydeven
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