It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 10 years since Subway introduced the nation to a guy named Jared Fogle. In the first commercial, which originally ran only in the Midwest, that regular guy told a story that has now become a part of American pop culture: He’d been overweight as a kid—a product of what he calls “a sedentary lifestyle” e.g. too much TV and receiving a video game system early in life—and eventually ballooned into a 425-pound Indiana University college student. A self-crafted diet of mayo- and cheese-free Subway sandwiches twice a day helped Fogle drop the weight, and he ultimately slimmed down to 190 pounds.
News of Fogle’s unconventional diet eventually reached Subway headquarters, and his career as a Subway spokesman took off. Fogle’s once-local ad campaign began to run across the country, inspiring thousands to “Eat Fresh” and popularizing the notion of the “Subway Diet.”
A decade after shooting that first commercial, Fogle is still eating Subway (for free now) and has become an American icon. “It’s definitely a very surreal ride,” he told QSR while in Los Angeles. “I would have never thought in a million years that it would have been happening to me, but you sort of sit back and take it all in.”
And it’s a lot to take in. Since becoming “The Subway Guy,” Fogle has met countless celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, and, the day QSR interviewed him, Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway. He’s also been parodied on Saturday Night Live and in a South Park episode, which he describes as “hysterical,” calling the cartoon’s season six episode “true, typical, tasteless South Park.”
Fogle’s rise to fame, however, has not been without what he calls “haters.” Mainly they are bloggers who have simply had enough of Fogle’s dominance over fast-food pop culture. “To be honest,” he says, “having been heavy through so much of my childhood and having to develop thick skin has really helped me to deal with those types of people.”
His die-hard Subway franchisee fan base hasn’t hurt either. “Franchisees are really the ones I work for,” Fogle says. “They’re really the ones who are actually advertising for Subway since the advertising is funded by franchisees.” All of Subway’s nearly 30,000 stores, located in 86 countries, are owned by franchisees who have put their trust in the chain’s friendly brand ambassador. And why wouldn’t they? According to a February Advertising Age article, same-store sales fell 10 percent in 2005 when Fogle was temporarily off air. While Fogle maintains that he didn’t even notice the time away from the camera three years ago, rumors circulated that the brand was fading him out and taking its creative in a new direction.
“People forget that Subway usually goes about two or three months without running my ads,” Fogle says. “That year they went a little bit further, and all of a sudden word got out that they were shelving me, which I was unaware of and still don’t think happened.” Even while off-air, Fogle’s 2005 schedule was still filled with Subway-related speaking engagements and press events.
In fact, Fogle has been Subway’s official spokesman since he graduated from college in 2000. Fogle wisely won’t disclose his salary, but he does admit that “they don’t pay me all in subs.”
Subway makes sure to get its money’s worth. Fogle travels about 220 days a year, “mainly domestic—anywhere from Jackson, Mississippi, to Tampa, Florida, to Seattle.”