Subway: The $5 Racists?

by Jade

October 9, 2008

Subway’s new campaign for their $5 subs allows you to send custom emails and text message from an Abe Lincoln $5 cut out, fashioned with a green sweat band around his head that says “Home of da $5 Footlong”, big shiny “bling” in his ear, a shiny dollar sign pendant around his neck and oversized aviator glasses.

Below, see the marvelous (and by marvelous I mean marvelously horrendous) email I was able to put together to send to my friends and family:

Yo,

I’m ‘bout to destroy a $5 Footlong at SUBWAY. That deal’s so tight you’re gonna buy me lunch.

Oooh, here’s another gem that was put together and sent to me:

‘Sup Boo,

I’m ‘bout to destroy a $5 Footlong at SUBWAY. That deal’s so tight you’re gonna buy me lunch.

Click Here to See the Email In Action

Then all you have to do is click on the “Preview your Holla” button to watch Abe say it… Oooh, goody…only I think I’m going to be sick. I mean, Really? REALLY!?

According to subway, their everyday value is “somethin’ to holla about”. I think that I’ll only be hollering at the blatant stereotypes in this new campaign. I mean, how does this get from concept to launch without a single person raising their hand and saying “I think this might be a bad idea?”

Think I’m making this up? Check it for yourself: http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/

And then “Holla Back” at Subway your comments: comments@subway.com

Category: News, web 2.0 | Tags: damn shame, subway $5 sub campaign, subway fresh buzz

Camille

I don't even know where to start. I just sent this to a bunch of people.

I don't just want them to dump this ad. I want the exec who wrote this to get publicly smacked.

mzvirgo

Are they serious with that promotion? That's racist as hell!

Geezy G

They are just trying to be more urban and reach a broader audience. Imitation is a form of flattery and sometimes people try to relate to others and just go about it the wrong way. I think the ad is more ignorant than racist, but I do like the artwork.

Fredric

That joint is actually pretty awesome.

I mean, I think we're at a point now where I saw some played out, comedy sketch, Jamie Kennedy type joint.

I mean, it could be worse....but the fact that Abe interjects with some proper grammar, the joint is hilarious to me.

I'm thinking someone did raise their hand and I imagine the first sketch had Abe with a gold-tooth and ho on one arm. They said 'ok, lets make it a little less blatant, but edgy enough where it generates buzz and ridiculous to get some chuckles'.

I'm cool with it.

Ananda Leeke

Thanks for the heads up. I wrote Subway and will not be buying their salads.

Lynne d Johnson

Let me play real devil's advocate here and say we have "rap" music to blame for this. If "rap" music is one of the country's biggest import and most cross over art form of all time, and every ad exec on madison avenue then thinks it's cool to tap into the power of what's hot -- this is what we end up with. Whether they hit the mark or not, or you find it offensive or not.

It's a product of some ish I don't even want to get into. But be real, the caricatures of black people enacted by black people are in the mainstream full force and that's how we end up with these interpretations. And then people end up thinking the ads are for "black" people but in the end you find out they're for another set of people entirely who read black people in this light.

Hard to call it. Always, hard. I wasn't immediately offended as much as I asked myself who talks like that. And then lyrics to many "rap" songs came to the front of mind. And I'm no rap hater. So just know that.

vizo

I'm not sure it's racist. We could be a little too sensitive about these ads sometimes. There are many ills affecting or is it effecting black community that deserves our attention more and we should be upset about. With that said, the ad is engaging and I must admit I did laugh when I saw it. However, It sure hells didn't make me want to purchase a 5 dolla sub.

Finally, I see and hear people who look and talk like that who are not black.

The Silverback

20 years ago marketers would not touch hip hop with a 100 ft pole. We complained that America was racist and would not pay attention to Hip Hop because it was made by blacks. Now we think that it is racist that we do. Jim Crow and slavery have messed with our heads so much that we can no longer truly identify racism. Every time we disagree with the actions of a white person we can't just lump it the magical category of racism. What if we later find out that Subway hired a black ad agency for there marketing efforts and this is what they produced. Is the ad agency then uncle toms? If so everybody out there that is remotely profiting off of the popularity and marketability of hip hop is either racist or and uncle tom.

blackweb20

Great comments. I agree not so sure that it's racist but do agree that it is just feeding a stereotype about hip-hop culture not about a race. Too often people associate hip-hop with race when it is a culture all its own that is made up of many all races.

@Fredric I agree the mix of slang and proper English is comical, wondering if that was intentional.

@Jade what site was the original banner on?

Charles

I agree with those who say it isn't racist. I think that the promotion is on point for the consumer that it targets. This type of slang and the visuals are embraced by many races. You can't even say that it is about Hip-hop anymore because Hip-hop has infiltrated many different music genres and cultures. I can see if Abe tried to sound black, but Abe sounds like an old white man. Furthermore, I hear more white kids talking like this than black kids. If you don't like the ad, it is probably because it is not made for you. You are probably too old to understand it, LOL. The racism card can not be played on this one.