Posted on 04/08/2006 7:29:41 AM PDT by Cvengr
What's the largest fast junk food chain in the country?
Wrong.
It's not McDonald's.
It's Subway.
Subway overtook McDonald's last year in the United States and now has 15,874 locations in the U.S. compared to 11,533 for McDonald's.
Worldwide, Subway has 21,528 restaurants in 75 countries.
McDonald's has more than 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries.
Subway founder Fred DeLuca says he wants 30,000 outlets worldwide by 2010.
Of course, Subway would not want you to think that it is not a fast junk food chain.
In fact, the privately held firm has overtaken McDonald's by riding a wave of publicity featuring Jared Fogle, who says he lost 245 pounds on the following diet coffee for breakfast, Subway sandwich for lunch, and Subway sandwich for dinner.
Soon, the word was out you could lose weight eating Subway sandwiches.
And tomorrow, on the National Mall, Subway founder and CEO DeLuca will join with Fogle, the American Heart Association, members of Congress (including the corporate liberal Rose DeLauro, D-Connecticut, whose district contains Subway's corporate headquarters), and various "nutritional experts" to "galvanize support for fighting childhood obesity."
We went and visited our local Subway and found that in fact, there was health and diet information displayed, including a nutritional and dietary guide with the American Heart Association's stamp of approval.
But as at most fast junk food outlets, Coke machines, the rows of bags of chips, and the rubbery chicken and unappetizing beef were screaming unhealthy, stay away.
You could order a salad, or a vegetarian sandwich. The chain markets seven subs with six grams of fat or less.
But for the most part, the staple of this franchise is processed meats and cheeses, soft drinks and chips.
Subway sandwiches include such classics as Steak and Cheese, Subway Melt (a first class blend of turkey breast, ham, crispy bacon, and melted cheese) Italian BMT (pepperoni, genoa salami, and ham) and the Cold Cut Trio (turkey based ham, salami, and bologna) not your typical heart healthy sandwiches.
Should members of Congress and the American Heart Association be promoting this multinational junk food company?
Of course they shouldn't.
The American Heart Association has sullied its reputation by getting in bed with whatever corporation comes around with its checkbook open.
According to a report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the American Heart Association has taken big corporate cash from a long list of drug companies, junk food companies, and even from the National Livestock and Meat Board, which gave $189,000 to sponsor a HeartRide cycling series "to help ensure that people don't think that AHA recommends abstaining from meat."
In return for endorsing only Bayer aspirin, AHA gets $500,000 a year from Bayer. Nice deal, if you can cut it.
And how much money has Subway kicked in?
According to the AHA, Subway has given $4 million to the American Heart Association (AHA) since 2002, and will gave an additional $6 million through 2007. That's a total of $10 million.
In exchange, Subway gets to put the AHA "fighting heart disease and stroke" logo on its materials throughout its chain of stores, according to an AHA spokesperson.
In a written statement, the AHA said it will only accept sponsorships from "those restaurants that have a public/market positioning associated with healthy foods or have heart-healthy and non-fried food alternatives on the menu."
"Subway actively promotes low-saturated fat meal options and exercise in their advertising messages," the AHA said in the statement. "Their messaging reinforces that a well-balanced diet and exercise are important tools in maintaining a healthy weight."
We agree with Commercial Alert's Gary Ruskin that it's "not the proper role of the federal government or public health groups to hawk Subway or any other form of fast or junk food."
"This is part of the broader story of the corruption of the American public health movement," Ruskin said. "AHA ought to drop its support for Subway. They have been converted into an auxiliary marketeer for Subway. They are apparently for sale."
"The fast food companies are running in a panic over the obesity epidemic," Ruskin said. "They are striving to do something to make it seem that they are not responsible for it or part of it. This is just one more way that companies like Subway try to hide their tracks and boost their public relation images."
The government and independent public health organizations should be helping the American people fight off the hyperbreeding of fast food outlets cannibalizing the country not promoting it.
In addition to promoting his beloved Subway and making millions a year doing so, DeLuca wants to bring an Indian gambling casino to Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Call it the junk food/junk economy connection.
According to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, DeLuca invested $10 million in the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation's successful effort to gain federal recognition so they could build a casino in Connecticut. Blumenthal is challenging that recognition.
And the House Government Reform Committee is in the middle of an investigation of how the Schaghticoke Tribe and the Eastern Pequots gained such recognition from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Earlier this year, the Hartford Courant reported that a rival band of Indians charged that the federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation "was hijacked by outside investors and high-priced lobbyists intent on winning a lucrative gambling franchise for their own benefit."
Whether or not the investors and lobbyists hijacked the process we'll leave to federal investigators.
But what is clear is that Subway and DeLuca have hijacked the American Heart Association, Congresswoman DeLauro, and various federal agencies to promote their own brand of fast junk food.
Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter, http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor, http://www.multinationalmonitor.org. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press; http://www.corporatepredators.org).
(c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
This article is posted at: http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/corp-focus/2004/000181.html
Love their bread - the best of the "fast" places, IMHO. Rest of the Original is good, too. I've been known to crave them.
I agree. I stop in once in awhile and get a grilled chicken subway with lots of spinach and tomatoes on it. I choose one of their healthier bread choices, too.
Good stuff!
Quizno's seems to have much better subs.
Agreed 100 percent!!!
Try the new sub...I think it's Prime Rib. It's delicious!
btw, I HATE Subway. My son worked there for years in H.S.
He reeked of lunch meat....it seeped through his pores. To this day that Subway smell nauseates me!
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
I'll never eat at a Subway again. They're on my permanent boycott list for that cartoon in Europe they put out a couple of years back making fun of America on 9/11.
What are you talking about? Do you have a copy or at least go more into details. I mean to say an open statement with no info is sorta unfair. How can I make a decision on that little bit of info.
It costs anywhere from $1-$2 more at Quizno's for a sub
Worth every penny. I don't go often, but it is definitely worth it to me.
That may have been the second scene shot, but the first was definitely a youngster pondering whether to 'get into the game' with the basketball and I read the word as 'homophobia'. Perhaps I'm mistaken. That's what caught my attention to the ad. Additionally, Bayer has been associated with gay advertising campaigns and listed on GLBF websites as a sponsor to contact whenever a media figure makes a comment construed as being 'anti-gay'.
I am sorry but to me you are very dangerous. After reading your first post, I was extremely concerned over Bayer and just commericals in general. Now I come to find out you spoke nonsense. I can't believe how you can be so insane to get a word confused like that. And then to justify your error you add well they do other gay commercials and such with again no proof. I don't have as much of a problem with them listing their site on the GLBF because I am sure that gays get headaches as well. That is a whole different situation that "selling" gay ideas. I am sorry I am trying not to be too mean about this but you are way to dangerous for FR.
Perhaps you're correct. If so my mistake. I took a doubletake when I saw it.
I wrote my post before I saw yours. I still think it is a bit dangerous to just say things about companies that are not true. Just my little humble opinion.
Psycho Bunny,
The person was just giving you some helful ways to get a bigger sub. I didn't see any malice in it at all. Come on now we one the same side.
You are right about the subs being mostly bread. The only way one can lose weight on subs is to buy a 1/2 sandwich and cut it in half; then eat one 1/2 one day the the other 1/2 on another day.
I did too. I did a couple hours after work for a year or two. I agree that you get that smell all over. It is pretty gross. The only good news now is that in a food court enviroment, it does not smell as bad.
WTF? That really pisses me off. I can't believe it. Thank you for this. It really gives me ammo to not support them.
Good strategy! Since I'm a woman I don't usually "connect" with the gals making my sub, but I ask for a bit more of this and less of that and generally get a yummy sub! As long as I'm pleasant they make nice to me. . . .
Suburpia subs just opened up again in my area and they are AWESOME subs - you have to keep the plastic bag wrapped around them because they are so gooey - and the bread is simply poetry!!
The last time I watched, Subway weighed their meat portions as they loaded the sandwich.
I find your criterion for insanity to be rather premature.
If I was mistaken, then confusing 'homophobia' for 'hemophilia' when being quickly read would seem to correspond to a misassociation rather than lack of sanity. On the other hand, if my recollection is correct, then it is less justifiable to ignore the report than a simple misassociation.
Memory, certainty, perception, logic, justification, faith, and belief all have pertinent relationships in the study of knowledge.
I hope this quells your fear of how dangerous you summise my post to have been.
Oops, Sorry, ditto,..gomenasai!
The best sandwich you can eat is 7000 miles from here. There is an Italian guy in Madrid that makes pizzas to die for. He also makes a sandwich that will bring water to your eyes. Take a big round Italian loaf and slice it in half. Make a pocket to put a sausage, potatoes, green peppers and onions in it- all fried in olive oil with spices. Only go there when you are droolingly hungry. I forgot the name of the Avenida. It's one block from the Atoche train station and 3 blocks from the soccer stadium where they have concerts. This sandwich is not copied.
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