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2004-08-05 Europe
More Anti-American Images Found at German Subway Stores
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Posted by Baltic Blog 2004-08-05 8:14:39 AM|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Looks like I will be having a little coraspondence with Subway.It is a pity,too,I like thier sandwichs
Posted by raptor 2004-08-05 9:14:48 AM||   2004-08-05 9:14:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Start your contact here.
Posted by Dragon Fly  2004-08-05 9:16:21 AM||   2004-08-05 9:16:21 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 I have a dream. I see all the little German sausages running aflame from a burning Berlin only to run into the gaping mouth of the Russian bear.
Posted by ed 2004-08-05 9:33:24 AM||   2004-08-05 9:33:24 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Some marketing ideas for American fast-food companies:

Burger-King: B-17 dropping hundreds of whoppers on a flaming city.
Caption: "Crush the health nazis, eat what you like."

Skeletal concentration camp survivors staring glumly at camera: "Yeah, these guys had to eat what the Krauts told them. Do you?"

Franchise opportunities for Subway competitor: "Dominate your market like a Lancaster over Dresden!"

Desperate escapees dodging gunfire on the Berlin Wall: "Some people will do anything for a decent cheeseburger."
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 9:33:33 AM||   2004-08-05 9:33:33 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 It would likely unsettle the Germans if they visited a Subway in Washington, DC to find illustared tray mats with a ham and cheese sub divebombing into Dresden. Just a thought, that's all.
Posted by Dragon Fly  2004-08-05 9:37:55 AM||   2004-08-05 9:37:55 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 From their website FAQ section:
4. Where is SUBWAY® Restaurants headquartered and how many people does it employ?

Doctor's Associates Inc., the franchisor of SUBWAY® Restaurants, employs close to 600 people at its Milford, Conn., headquarters. Worldwide, its franchises employ more than 150,000 men and women throughout the system.
Anyone want to guess who these cocknocks are going to vote for in the upcoming election?
Posted by Victory Now Please 2004-08-05 9:59:00 AM||   2004-08-05 9:59:00 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Interesting response at Free Republic, their string on this is inundated with denialists and Subway apologists, which seems most unusual.
I wonder how many Freepers own Subway franchises or whether Subway employees have infiltrated the board?
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 10:12:33 AM||   2004-08-05 10:12:33 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 I've got it: a Subway sandwich, dark gray and with "Ueat2much" painted on the side, sinks in the storm-tossed waves of the North Atlantic as obese German sailors and a monocled officer abandon ship.
Overhead, a stylized hamburger in WW2-era US Navy markings swoops triumphantly away with its lettuce-leaf bomb doors open.
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 10:22:55 AM||   2004-08-05 10:22:55 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 Thanks DF. My e-mail complaint is on the way.
If others wish to rant to their Customer Service, you can go directly to a CS form at http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/Applications/CustServ/frmCustomerService.aspx
Posted by GK 2004-08-05 10:52:58 AM||   2004-08-05 10:52:58 AM|| Front Page Top

#10 Well, looky here:
Half of Germans Too Fat, says Statistics Office
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 11:17:09 AM||   2004-08-05 11:17:09 AM|| Front Page Top

#11 I'm still trying to work a 200 Km/h Autobahn pile-up and some emaciated black-clad Sprockets types into my anti-Subway ad campaign. Any ideas?
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 11:25:05 AM||   2004-08-05 11:25:05 AM|| Front Page Top

#12 already sent subway may complaint, last week when this fist surfaced here at rb..

It has come to my attention that Subway in Germany is conducting an ad campaign that is very belittling to America and Americans in general. Picturing the Statue Of Liberty as obesit. I find this particularly disgusting and disturbing.

In the pre-911 world I would of noted this but let it go. But today, with large parts of the world spewing lies and hatred of America I cannot stand by while American companies actively engage in them also.

In this post-911 world I will support companies that support America. What I saw and read is not supportive of America.

As of today I am no longer spending my money in any of your establishments.

I do regret this decision in the fact that I really do love eating your Teriyaki Chicken sandwiches.

we should all send subway a little note....i for one will no longer spend my money in any of their establishments!
Posted by Dan 2004-08-05 11:35:41 AM||   2004-08-05 11:35:41 AM|| Front Page Top

#13 Yet another ad idea for burger-patriots:

Hindenburg crash scene, with a Subway product replacing the airship.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 11:48:57 AM||   2004-08-05 11:48:57 AM|| Front Page Top

#14 Hold up guys.

While I am just as furious as anyone of you about this, it seems more of a case of lack of oversight and corporate stupidity more than anything else. Do we need to punish Subway before even giving them the chance to correct the problem?

I for one will give them a second chance provided that they crack down on this kind of thing. I suggested some sort of heavy fine for the German stores or other penalty for whoever gave the green light to the materials in question. I let them know that my continued patronage would depend on their response. I think this is fair. I don't think we need to try and bring the company down for what seems like a really dumb mistake of not watching their German stores closely enough.

Tell me, who would suspect something like this? As dumb as it sounds, maybe it never seemed necessary to them to vet these kinds of materials for these sorts of subtle messages before now. Isn't it true that many people still underestimate the anti-Americanism of Europe? Isn't it true that most of us here have only recently begun to appreciate it. I say give Subway and other American franchises a chance to catch up to the rest of us just to be fair.
Posted by peggy  2004-08-05 11:55:19 AM||   2004-08-05 11:55:19 AM|| Front Page Top

#15 Keep 'em coming, AC! Tea alert, every one of your ideas!

Maybe show Hitler eating a Subway sandwich before he commits suicide?
Posted by The Doctor 2004-08-05 11:56:10 AM||   2004-08-05 11:56:10 AM|| Front Page Top

#16 Let the boys and girls play. They are turning a small outrage into an innocent source of merriment.....
Posted by Alaska Paul 2004-08-05 12:01:41 PM||   2004-08-05 12:01:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Bad for Subway, good for Blimpies, Quiznos, and such.

#14 I have emailed a complaint stating that I will not patronize thier stores until they make the change. Once the adds are pulled I will gladly return as I love their BMT.
Posted by 2% 2004-08-05 12:05:59 PM||   2004-08-05 12:05:59 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 AC, dont forget the Bizmark.
Posted by Anonymous5994 2004-08-05 12:07:50 PM||   2004-08-05 12:07:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#19 re #15
Many thanks, Doc.
I think I'll put all these ideas together (yours too) and send them to Burger King and McDonald's, with a (dis)courtesy copy for Subway.

AP, in my experience, corporate franchise types are very sensitive to ridicule. I think mockery is the best response in this case.
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 12:08:41 PM||   2004-08-05 12:08:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#20 Subway: why do they hate us?
Posted by Rex Mundi 2004-08-05 12:34:10 PM||   2004-08-05 12:34:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#21 Ya' know, my all-time favorite mock-ad also had a German connection. This was National Lampoon's 1977 variation on Volkswagen's "Bugs will float" campaign: "If Ted Kennedy had driven a Volkswagen, he'd be President today."

This was one of the very few NatLamp pieces that was actually pulled in response to complaints. Many folks, it seems, had taken it for a real VW ad. I have heard that not all of them were upset, but VW North America threatened to sue anyway.

IIRC, young PJ O'Rourke was a co-author of the piece.
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 12:37:55 PM||   2004-08-05 12:37:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#22 Ah me... Dr. Strangelove with a Subway original .com?
Posted by Shipman 2004-08-05 12:40:57 PM||   2004-08-05 12:40:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#23 That was good stuff AC!
I think that maybe the same issue had the

Was that the surrender issue?
Posted by Shipman 2004-08-05 12:43:00 PM||   2004-08-05 12:43:00 PM|| Front Page Top

#24 opps same issue had "Meat Lie, the shame of a nation"

featuring weird food sculture by tony Henza?
Posted by Shipman 2004-08-05 12:43:53 PM||   2004-08-05 12:43:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#25 I think it was the same issue as Meat Lie or about the same time. Another favorite was the "National Revenge" issue from about 1983, which featured a fist punching a bearded Arab's face on the cover.
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 12:47:21 PM||   2004-08-05 12:47:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#26 Ted Kennedy, Michael Moore, and Jeanine Garofalo posing together: "Two out of three Progressives Agree, Americans are too fat!"
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 12:54:43 PM||   2004-08-05 12:54:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#27 O/T - For AC...
Posted by .com 2004-08-05 12:57:49 PM||   2004-08-05 12:57:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#28 For .com
Posted by Dragon Fly  2004-08-05 1:02:13 PM||   2004-08-05 1:02:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#29 Do we need to punish Subway before even giving them the chance to correct the problem?

Of course! If they simply 'correct' the problem without suffering any repercussions, what's to prevent them from doing it again? And how does that dissuade other firms from doing the same?

Action, meet consequence.
Posted by Raj  2004-08-05 1:07:32 PM||   2004-08-05 1:07:32 PM|| Front Page Top

#30 Dammit O'dotted One!! That needed a NSWF tag.

'cuse me guys, gotta go to the principal's office. . . .
Posted by Doc8404 2004-08-05 1:16:01 PM||   2004-08-05 1:16:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#31 Doc - NSFW? Where the hell do you work? Lol! That was tame, bro! At least IMHO... Sorry!

DF - Some Gator-ish images for your collection...
confused
cruck
I'm Home!

I have a couple more - if I can find 'em, heh. I need to stop collecting long enough to do some major reorg! Whew!
Posted by .com 2004-08-05 1:28:00 PM||   2004-08-05 1:28:00 PM|| Front Page Top

#32 .com Those look like typical scenes from sunny South Florida!
Posted by Dragon Fly  2004-08-05 1:29:26 PM||   2004-08-05 1:29:26 PM|| Front Page Top

#33 Here's an image that is, apparently on-topic -- but I do not know anything about the incident for which it was created. Can anyone fill me in regards the Subway - MJ connection?
Posted by .com 2004-08-05 1:31:58 PM||   2004-08-05 1:31:58 PM|| Front Page Top

#34 .com - No apology needed - you're cool - the problem is on my end. The brass is still PO'd I introduced some of newly imported workmates (Pakistani women) to the liberating effects of alcohol. No offense Barbara, Jen, SgtMom, Angie, rbk, Seafarious, et al - but there is nothing funnier than having to explain to the brass that the previously reticent Ms. XXX will not be in today due to a broken arm suffered during a fall while dancing on a table and hollering "WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!"

I've been asked to be 'more culturally sensitive" by the HR p***k manager. Maybe I shoulda ordered King Fisher or Hawards 5000 for everyone? heh
Posted by Doc8404 2004-08-05 1:55:14 PM||   2004-08-05 1:55:14 PM|| Front Page Top

#35 "WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!", indeed, lol!
Posted by .com 2004-08-05 1:58:24 PM||   2004-08-05 1:58:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#36 Doc...sounds fun. I think we are all ambassadors to American culture. Share the love!
Posted by Dragon Fly  2004-08-05 1:58:43 PM||   2004-08-05 1:58:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#37 I have a Subway just around the corner and talked to the manager today. He said that the ads were rather "forced upon them" by the U.S. headquarters but he (and many other German Subway managers) removed them early because the German (!) clients didn't like them at all and some threatened to boycot Subway.

So it was not a "lack of oversight", this was deliberately planned by U.S. headquarters. A shot in the foot obviously.
Posted by True German Ally 2004-08-05 2:29:05 PM||   2004-08-05 2:29:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#38 Probably the best response I have seen to this is one poster at nicedoggie.net said he was for the boycott; anything that would shorten the lines at Subway. ;o)
Posted by badanov  2004-08-05 2:32:44 PM|| [http://www.rkka.org]  2004-08-05 2:32:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#39 #14 Peggy although Subway has pulled the “Super Size Me” promotion,, their spokesperson, Les Winogad, seems otherwise unrepentant and far from apologetic. See Lisa Burgess' Stars and Stripes report 8/04/04. http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=23614
Posted by GK 2004-08-05 2:47:18 PM||   2004-08-05 2:47:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#40 I liked my adds better anyways. Clay and I would be willing to come back if they gave us a call.
Posted by Jared 2004-08-05 2:52:08 PM||   2004-08-05 2:52:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#41 Furrin ad companies often have ...uh, independent... notions of fun ways of hawking their clients' products. Take, for example, this tale (from my blog) about the Taiwanese ad firm which thought that using a little cartoon Hitler would be great way to advertise German-made heaters. The Germans, of course, pert near had a stroke, and the heater company had the ads removed. (You can see the ad in the Taipei Times article linked in my post. Click on the little image to get a bigger one.)

Where do you stand on the "Yank" vs. "Jap" translation of "Ami", TGA?

By the way, all here's the Kennedy Volkswagen ad.
Posted by Angie Schultz 2004-08-05 2:52:22 PM|| [http://darkblogules.blogspot.com]  2004-08-05 2:52:22 PM|| Front Page Top

#42 Isn't it great to have Terpsboy back? Lol, thanx, Angie!
Posted by .com 2004-08-05 2:54:59 PM||   2004-08-05 2:54:59 PM|| Front Page Top

#43 "Ami" is not a derogatory term per se, it can have any meaning you want. It can be used in an endearing, mocking or derogatory way. Or simply in a neutral shorter colloquial way for "American". You would not use it in formal occasions though.

I use it all the time.

I'd consider "Jap" derogatory per se, "Yank" (hardly ever used in Germany) only in context. "Kraut" was meant to be derogatory but it can be used in an endearing way as well although "Ami" would be more neutral in comparison imho.

Something more on the Subway ads. They were obviously developed as an experiment by Hamburg students of advertising and the incriminated one was picked by Subway.

Subway is expanding rapidly in Germany, they have about 100 stores by now and are planning for 1500 in 2010.

Dunno, I don't eat there. The local Italian sandwich stalls and little shops are so much better.
Posted by True German Ally 2004-08-05 3:10:52 PM||   2004-08-05 3:10:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#44 Thanks TGA,
I didn't care if German's use the expanding Statue of Liberty ad, especially since Germans are also some of the fattest (and most prosperous) people on the planet. But using flying hamburgers crashing into flaming skyscrapers does piss me off, and contributes to the hardening of my, and other Americans, attitude.

The groups also objected to the promotion’s “derogatory” use of the word “Ami,” as shorthand for “American,” Boehm said.
“It’s a little like calling someone from Japan a ‘Jap’,” Boehm said. “No other major U.S. corporation markets their product by making ethnic, religious, or prejudicial” references to their customers.
Winograd disagreed with the Boehm’s translation of the German phrase.
“‘Ami’ is an affectionate nickname, more like calling an American a ‘Yank’,” he said.

So is Ami derogatory or not? Or is it in the way one says it? Because I can't imagine (yet) and ad using "Kraut" or even the neutral "Fritz" to refer to Germans.
Posted by ed 2004-08-05 3:19:43 PM||   2004-08-05 3:19:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#45 I just ate a Quizno's Italian. Beats the heck out of the equivalent Subway BMT.

Subway should know better. But Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream should have too, but they also went over the edge long ago.
Posted by BigEd 2004-08-05 3:21:01 PM||   2004-08-05 3:21:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#46 Thanks for answering my question even before I posted. Talk about fast service. Yeah, Subway is the worst of the Sandwich franchises. Quizno's or the local chains do a much better job.
Posted by ed 2004-08-05 3:23:57 PM||   2004-08-05 3:23:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#47 My contribution to the cause:

Please be advised that, in response to your German anti-American in-store campaign (fat Statue of Liberty, cheeseburger attacking the World Trade Center in the food diary) I and all my friends and family will be boycotting Subway. A pity, as my husband is particularly fond of your subs, and now I shall have to cook dinner a good deal more often.

According to one of my German correspondents, the managers at his nearby Subway claim this ad campaign was foisted on them -- against their will -- by the home office in Milford. Apparently the German customers find the campaign so distasteful they are threatening to boycott.

Very stupid move, guys! And, I suspect, a very costly one. Surveys have established that in consumer product industries, each actual complaint stands for around ten-fold number of unhappy customers, and each unhappy customer shares his experience with between 10 and 100 friends. And, don't forget how much more it costs to win back an unhappy customer than to retain a loyal one, if it can be done at all in a market with established competitors.
Posted by trailing wife 2004-08-05 3:25:23 PM||   2004-08-05 3:25:23 PM|| Front Page Top

#48 Btw I was referring to the fat lady only... the manager said he hadn't seen the cheeseburger in towers thing...

Although I think this is more about a student trying to be funny. It seems a bit absurd for an American franchise chain trying to be "Anti American" in order to attract German customers.

American products are bought BECAUSE they are American (hence cool). To sell anything "typically" American with an anti-American stance should get the marketing guy fired immediately. You think anyone would pay 150€ for some spiffy Nikes if they had "Quality Chinese product" written all over them?

The obesity thing is nonsense as well. Germans aren't really slimmer than Americans (I happened to see one shining example just today who looked like he had Michael Moore for breakfast! Complete with shorts, sandals and white socks...)

If you have your ads made by students, check them a bit better, Subway.
Posted by True German Ally 2004-08-05 3:47:05 PM||   2004-08-05 3:47:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#49 Re #41 Kennedy-VW ad.
Great catch, Angie, I haven't seen that in twenty-five years. It brings back glowing memories of the heyday of American satire: so much to mock--- Carter, disco, commercial hippies, shag hairstyles (carpets too), Battlestar Galactica---- and only the helpless squeaks of nascent PCism to get in the way.

Still, Chappaquiddick was 35 years ago. Ted Kennedy is now past 70. He is in poor health and has had to endure a variety of trials tribulations and tragedies in his family.

Don't y'all think it's time to back off and let him live out his remaining years with some kind of peace and dignity?

Nah, neither do I.


Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 3:48:33 PM||   2004-08-05 3:48:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#50 AC, if only Ted lived out his remaining years with some kind of peace and dignity...
Posted by True German Ally 2004-08-05 3:54:37 PM||   2004-08-05 3:54:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#51 My complaint also posted with Subway HQ. Now I'm hungry.
Posted by Seafarious  2004-08-05 3:59:48 PM||   2004-08-05 3:59:48 PM|| Front Page Top

#52 AC, just a note... Battlestar Galactica series is being redone and is set to come out in the next couple months on scifi.
Posted by Anonymous5999 2004-08-05 4:00:27 PM||   2004-08-05 4:00:27 PM|| Front Page Top

#53 The thing about the VW parody was it's dead-on B&W dead-on Doyle, Dane, Berbach (?) style.

I remember that it caught me the first time through. It was at that point I decided on a life of high crime.
Posted by Shipman 2004-08-05 4:34:23 PM||   2004-08-05 4:34:23 PM|| Front Page Top

#54 Thred degeneration continues... Now I'M hungry, Sea!

Doc - NSFyourW, heh!
Posted by .com 2004-08-05 4:50:54 PM||   2004-08-05 4:50:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#55 Pretty sure subway doesn't make milkshakes, dot. You are a very bad boy.
Posted by Seafarious  2004-08-05 4:57:15 PM||   2004-08-05 4:57:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#56 Seafarious, maybe you are thinking of smoothies?
Posted by Dragon Fly  2004-08-05 5:05:52 PM||   2004-08-05 5:05:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#57 Okay, you're picking on me again, heh...
(Read: I've been looking an excuse, a backlog, lol!)

Definitely NSFW...
gotmilk
bubbles
bartender
poon
walk
puppies
WhatWeWantToHear
whichiscolder
Alien
beerpower
bestshot
bush04 (extra, super, NSFW)

Ok, that's enough for one day, lol!
Posted by .com 2004-08-05 5:36:01 PM||   2004-08-05 5:36:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#58 Wow, .com, that's a lot of . . . pics. Does your wife know about them? Where do you find all these?

(Not that I'm going to go looking for them myself, you understand!)
Posted by The Doctor 2004-08-05 5:40:24 PM||   2004-08-05 5:40:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#59 Shipman,
The original Doyle, Dane, Bernbach ad campaign for Volkswagen has a crucial role in Thomas Franks' The Conquest of Cool, the landmark cultural history that I am always citing in my attacks on media culture.

According to Frank, DDB originated the "illusion of rebellion" advertising trope that is the basis of modern media culture. The early VW campaigns, with their amusing contrast to Detroit chrome and flash, were a seminal example.
Also according to Frank, DDB practically invented the 60s Counterculture during a series of seminars and conferences in 1964.
("Counterculture" is capitalized because there was, and still is, an actual counterculture of artists and bohemian types that dates back to the 1880s. By definition, a mass-market counterculture cannot exist, but a conformist style that falsely presents itself as counterculture can. This is what DDB invented.)

The trappings of left-wing politics are, of course, part and parcel of this approach (think Che t-shirt); which is probably why media oriented elements of society are the center of gravity of the present-day "Left."

The Left as we know it is little more than an advertising gimmick run amok.
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-08-05 6:01:20 PM||   2004-08-05 6:01:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#60 I like it AC.
Every read From The People That Brought You The Zero? Funny, but shallow DDB history.
Posted by Shipman 2004-08-05 9:09:52 PM||   2004-08-05 9:09:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#61 Shipman,are you sure you don't mean "FROM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS WHO BROUGHT YOU PEARL HARBOR" by Jerry Della Femina(sp.?).Somewhere I have the paperback w/that title.

BTW,I have stopped going to Subway and will not go back until everyone who approved w/ad campaign is fired.Management obviously thought what happens in Germany,stays in Germany.
Posted by Stephen 2004-08-05 11:12:34 PM||   2004-08-05 11:12:34 PM|| Front Page Top

#62 Yeah! That's the one!
Posted by Shipman 2004-08-06 11:04:44 AM||   2004-08-06 11:04:44 AM|| Front Page Top

06:40 Rosemary
22:13 Frank G
21:56 Anonymous6077
11:04 Shipman
01:39 trailing wife
01:28 Ernest Brown
00:37 Lucky
00:36 Super Hose
00:29 Frank G
00:27 Atomic Conspiracy
00:25 Frank G
00:09 Mitch H.
00:03 B
23:58 rex
23:55 Frank G
23:50 Frank G
23:47 muck4doo
23:45 Frank G
23:42 muck4doo
23:40 Atomic Conspiracy
23:35 Oldspook
23:25 Super Hose
23:15 rex
23:12 Fred









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