Shame on Subway!!!, Recipe Shame on Subway!!!

Posted the 20/10/2008 15:10:00 By Food Lovers Like Me (Visit website)

I don't care what anyone says--food is political. Just ask the person who has an opinion on sustainable farming, fast food in school cafeterias or the necessity of food stamps. Today I'm all hot and bothered by this Subway advertisement featured on their web site, http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/ . I really detest it when advertisers make woefully misguided attempts to appropriate hip-hop culture and they do it LOUD and WRONG. I mean, just look at this 'ish: does a blinged-out Abraham Lincoln make you want to buy a $5 Footlong?!?!?!?! Even worse: "Hollaback Abe" is interactive--he actually "speaks" to you in slang. Yeesh!!!

Kudos to Erica Kennedy, my Facebook friend and the famed author of the novel, Bling. She's the one who discovered this incredibly insensitive faux pas and had the cojones to call them out. But Erica didn't just scream at her PC--she took action and sent an email to the advertising company responsible for creating this travesty. They actually responded, too--but, as you might imagine, the response was outrageous, ridiculous, and almost as insensitive as the ad itself. Here is their email exchange; I'm giving it to you in its entirety because, well, this kind of stuff just drives me insane, and I hope you'll be just as outraged as I was after reading this:

The only direct e-mail listed was for Peter Twombly, the chief marketing officer, so I sent my initial query to him...

"Hello Peter,I am writing to you to find out if you are responsible for Subway's new foot long advertisement which features a blinged-out Abe Lincoln requesting that customers "holla" about the new foot long subs. It says on subway.com that your firm is responsible for the chain's advertising. Before I waste my energy going any further, I'd like to know to whom I should address my concerns regarding this matter."

Erica Kennedy

About an hour later, I received this response from Peter's assistant which I had to read twice before realizing it wasn't meant for me. (There are no accidents.)

"On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 8:15 PM, Melissa Devereaux wrote:Wonder what this chick has to say. Some people have too much time on their hands..."

I replied swiftly.

"On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 8:24pm feminista007 wrote: Melissa,I take it that's a yes."

Erica

After that gaffe, I expected to hear from Peter bright and early the next morning and sure enough I did...

"Erica - Good Day. Just back from road ? feel free to contact Subway Corp ? in CT. We usually direct all Emails to them ? & - You?ll have to ?sorta- excuse my assistant, as we get TONS of emails each day & its her job to sift through all of them / yesterday, actually, the last few weeks have been particularly very heavy with ?spam? ? we get negatives, positives, sales folks, pictures, etc, etc..Hope that helps."

PeterT

Since it was now clear that they were responsible for the Subway ad in question, I sent my missive to Peter, not knowing if he had a direct hand in its creation, but keeping in mind that my intentions were to have an effect on this one person which would HOPEFULLY create a ripple effect and do greater good in the long run.

"Peter,I posted that interactive Abe Lincoln "holla back" thingie in the Facebook group I run for creative women of color and it elicited a lot of comments. Of course everyone thought it was racist because it is. But it's the kind of advertising that is so out of bounds racist as to be bewildering. Of the 100+ comments, this was my favorite:That subway site? I'm not even offended because it's racist. I'm offended because it sux. It's like it was created back when KFC got MC Hammer to dance for the popcorn chicken and they dusted it off cuz Jared couldn't rap.So as you can see, Peter, we can laugh at these things because we have to. We see it every day, everywhere, and if we didn't laugh, how ever would we survive? We have quite a few journalists in the group and some wanted to write about the kind of corporate idiocy this "ad" represents but I told them that wouldn't change anything really and wouldn't it be so much more illuminating to just write you and ask...why? That's all I want to know. In 2008, how does something like that even come into existence? Honestly. From your client list and the look of your website, yours seems to be a very successful, upscale operation, so it is mind-boggling to me that you could produce such a thing. Is this what you think is cool? When these storyboards are presented, does everybody say, "Oh yeah, that's a winner!" Do you think that will make people want to buy Subway foot longs? Is this to target the African-American audience or is it grander plan to speak to the "youth market"?And I'm not judging here, I'm honestly asking because I don't know... maybe you all talk to each other that way. Hip-hop has permeated the mainstream. Maybe you all call each other "dawg" and "son" and end conversations by saying "holla back" and this idea is just an authentic expression of your own daily interaction. Maybe you've been misguided by an errant black person in your midst? (That's a stretch but the whole thing is so inexplicable, anything seems possible.)So, I'd just like to hear what you have to say on this matter. And in case you don't share my interest in having this dialogue, I will say this. You are in a very influential position, Peter. I know you know that but maybe you and the others at your firm need to be reminded that everything you create goes into the collective consciousness. Is this what you want your contribution to be? I am being completely genuine when I ask that, in the future, you try to use your power for good, not evil.

Peace and blessings,

Erica

My subject line, BTW, was "holla back" and Peter did - with a quickness!

"Erica ? Thank you for that great note ? I will pass this along to the folks who run the Subway account (I do not run the accounts ? I?m the new biz guy) However, one of the missions I?m charged with - is to instill a quality control component towards everything we do ? as such, I will look into this for you & for me. I?ve been on-board now w/MMB for about 6 months & I?m just starting to get a feel regarding our strengths and weaknesses ? so I will bring-up your comments to the Subway team. Quick question ? Are you the Erica Kennedy the author? (Googled your name just now) IF so ? You?re right, I should prob read some of your work / I have a very good friend who is African American ?Mr. Marty Stephen- & Marty & I have often chatted about the hip/hop culture & its role / effects on on pop culture, politics, education, etc.. (he?s a current HS teacher & I was a former slow learners teacher w/him for a short stint)At any rate Erica ? I do appreciate your feedback / I?ll be in the office most of next week if you would like to chat."

Cheers,PeterT

So I'm pretty happy with that result. And I give credit to Eckhart and Oprah for helping me stay conscious enough of my intentions to not just GO OFF which is what I would have done in the past. Although I have not responded to Peter because I'm too weirded out by the implications of... I hear your grievance, why don't you call me so we can chat and BTW, I have a very good African-American friend with whom I'm in constant dialogue about racial inequalities! WTF?! Peter needs to FALL, not holla, back!

Oct. 19th -- Okay, I'm over being weirded out by Peter's response. I can tell he meant well and the "I have a very good African-American friend" is the place white people go to when they get uncomfortable and are trying to make amends. We know that. And we all have our own things that we default to when we find ourselves in some awkward position. So, hoping to keep the lines of communication open, I responded today:

"Thank you for taking the time to listen and respond. Please let me know if you get any feedback. And yes, I am that Erica Kennedy."xx E

It makes ME wanna holla--not holla back--just, like Marvin said, holla and throw up both my hands!!! It also means that I cannot support Subway in any way. I vote with my dollars, because I believe in hitting them where they live--in their deep pockets.