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Subscribe to RSSSubway restaurant customers are posting pictures online of their "Footlong" sandwiches next to a measuring tape to show that they're not up to size.
The image of the 11-inch Subway sandwich marketed as "Footlong" that ignited an online chuckle-fest last week has now sparked a lawsuit.
Citing "false, deceptive" and "misleading affirmative statements of fact," two New Jersey men, John Farley of Evesham and Charles Pendrak of Ocean City, sued Subway on Tuesday to regain losses of 5 to 8.3 percent on the several "Footlong" sandwiches they bought from the sandwich store -- about $.41-$.54 per sub, depending on whether it was the $5 or $6.50 kind. The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status for anyone who bought a sandwich in New Jersey from January 22, 2007 to the present, asks for triple damages. That comes to a grand total of $1.23-$1.62, which is not even enough to buy yourself a new sub. The lawsuit specified one date in December Farley bought a Footlong, and three dates between December and January that Pendrak bought Footlongs, along with "various other dates" on which each bought Footlong sandwiches.
After Australian Matt Corby, having a bit of fun, last week posted a photo of a "Footlong" Subway sandwich next to a measuring tape showing it as only 11 inches long, the picture went viral and kicked off a media pig pile. The two approached lawyers after reading the short sandwich news coverage, their lawyer Stephen DeNittis told the New York Post. Online commenters identifying themselves as Subway employees speculated that the consumers were receiving exactly the same dough as others who got 12-inch subs but that the dough, which arrives frozen at franchise locations, hadn't been properly tugged, pulled and "proofed" before it was baked.
Because the legal action is still pending, Subway spokesperson Les Winograd declined to comment on the case specifically.
Matt Corby
Matt Corby uploaded a photo to Facebook of a Subway sandwich advertised as a "Footlong," next to a measuring tape showing it as 11 inches long. The caption read, "subway pls respond," and, after the image went viral, Subway did.
"We regret any instance where we did not fully deliver on our promise to our customers," Winograd told TODAY via email. "We freshly bake our bread throughout the day in our more than 38,000 restaurants in 100 countries worldwide, and we have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve. Our commitment remains steadfast to ensure that every SUBWAY® Footlong sandwich is 12 inches at each location worldwide."
Stephen DeNittis, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, told TODAY that his firm had "Footlong" sandwiches from 14 different Subway locations measured, and each fell short.
DeNittis shrugged off the suggestion that regardless of the sandwich length, consumers were still getting the same amount of dough in their loaf, saying, "If they were selling by net weight, that would be a good argument."
The case is worthy of the court's time, DeNittis said. "It's no different than if a wireless company is profiting on a 14-cent hidden fee."
DeNittis, an experienced class-action lawyer, is familiar with the criticisms of his trade, such as class actions profit the lawyers with big fees while consumers walk away with coupons. DeNittis said class-action courts were set up to deal with consumers with small-damage cases. Any fees lawyers receive are court-approved, he said, and are based on the "hundreds of thousands of hours" they can take to prosecute, as well as factoring for the risk the lawyers take on when they accept the case.
"If you believe it's OK to shortchange consumers on little fraud ... if you think it's only OK to go after companies for big fraud," then you probably won't think this case measures up, he said.
The case is about "holding big companies to deliver what they promised," said DeNittis. "When you expend it over millions of sandwiches, it adds up." He added that his firm "will be investigating to find out if Subway intentionally made sandwiches smaller to profit unfairly off consumer deception."
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Oh please. Like these 2 men have never lied about inches to any woman.
Did anyone complain about receiving a 13" sandwich?
what a bunch of f-gs
Hold on -- you can sue over a missing inch? I've been smiling and being the supportive wife for over 25 years now reassuring my hubby he was fine.
who told you to put the balm on? i didn't tell you to put the balm on.
I can't believe they've been screwing us this whole time with only 11" of sandwich bread.
Is it any wonder that the rest of the world think we Americans are a nation of children. So what if it is 11"? It's still a bargain in anyone's book. What a waste of the court's time and money!
TampaBayRays1: While I don't really like it, I do see a certain point to what these guys are saying. Technically, Subway has been selling their sandwich as a "Footlong" for years. They didn't say that if it turns out to be 11" it will actually weigh the same as the actual foot-long bun (an argument I keep hearing in regards to this story). I mean, has anyone ACTUALLY found a Subway bun that is a foot long, weighed it, and compared the weight to an 11" bun. It all sounds silly and in the long run it is. BUT, we come back to the advertising. We do have laws against false advertising. Where do you draw the line: on one side it's just a frivolous lawsuit but on the other side it's a valid lawsuit? What if you saw an ad for a car saying it has standard leather seats but when you got there, the seats were actually artificial leatherette. Would you be upset? Would you be mad because the advertising was misleading? Sure you would be. One inch on a sandwich isn't much and doesn't seem to be a big deal to most. But what if there is actually a difference in the sandwiches? What if that difference of one inch results in Subway making an additional million dollars or more a year? (Particularly if a 11" sandwich sold for the same price as the 12" sandwich once did?) It may still be a frivolous lawsuit but it does make one think: where do you draw the line in advertising? I think most sandwich shops have gotten around this by selling a "regular" sandwich or a "half" sandwich and avoiding any statements regarding the size or weight of the final product. Even the burger shops that sell quarter-pounders have the disclaimer posted that this is the weight BEFORE cooking the burger.
"Footlong" is both an ambiguous as well as arbitrary term, such as a "stone" or "peck." Not all stones weigh precisely the same, and not all bushels have exactly the same volume. 11" or 12" -- who really cares. It's still a great deal.
My double meat was only 31/16 meat.
I would like to see every corporation that lies in their adds, to be taken to court.
why so all the money can go to lawyers. All this is a way for a law firm to get their pay day. Everyone else will get $1
Why? I don't why you think that. That's not what happens.
Educate yourself.
9 out of 10 agree that 1 out of 10 will disagree! So if it is not 12 inches and you order a 6 inch from what they cut in half from the so called 12 inches only would be 5 1/2 inches... So apples are apples and oranges are apples? How many lickes does it take to get to middle of a tootsie pop?
The average size of a male adult foot is 11 to 13. from what I read so I guess 11 squeaks in !!!
Wait a minute. I've been buying the 6" sandwiches at Subway, They cut down a "footlong" bun. Doesn't that mean I'm not actually getting 6" (won't be the first time in life I've said that!). I should be able to join that class action suit too!
I hear their girlfriends are suing them for the same.....badump bump.
I'm guessing the sandwich makers are men. They've been trying to convince us 4" is really 6" since the invention of the ruler so this doesn't seem like much of a stretch :)
They're called "foot longs" not 12 inchers. So they make them the size of the average human adult foot (which happens to be 9.78 inches). Thus you are actually getting more than advertised.
So what's the problem?
I'm sure this will all be brought forth as evidence at the trial.
These men should get a life! Maybe Subway should set up a grief counseling program for these folks since it appears they are having trouble in coping with this.
I'm SO glad anybody sued Subway over the "FOOTlong" Does anybody know that huge company SUED a little tiny subway shop in Brooksville Florida claiming Coney Island FOOT LONG, infringed on Subways "trademark". The legal bills alone were astronomical. for a little small business defending the "Coney Island FOOT LONG". The suit was finally dropped. I blame so much of our societies ills on frivolous lawsuits too, but Subway is getting what that gave. About time to see a lil Karma in the news.
They are just doing a safety service, see Falling Down with Michael Douglas where he shoots up a burger fast food place for advertising their burgers are much better than they really are.
The comments are awesome - the same brain dead liberals that whine about corporations raping them, are supporting those corporations when the rape actually happens.
You all should go out and by some KY - it's even smoother that way the next time you take it up!
Yep, because life is black and white. You're either against everything every corporation does ever, or you love corporations. It must be nice to hold such a simple worldview.
What does this have to do with my comment?
Frankly, Miss Scarlett, I don't give a damn.
Only in America. You must all be so proud.
If it's okay for Subway to get away with calling an 11" bun a Footlong, what's to prevent McDonalds from using 3oz patties in their Quarter Pounder? What's to prevent Safeway from packaging 11 hot dog buns and calling it a dozen? Look, perhaps these lawyers are keen to reap some publicity, but on the other hand, they're asking for only token damages, enough to make a point that we as consumers demand our dollars' worth and we insist corporations deliver what they say they will deliver. Since when have we become so complacent as a society that so many of us seem to view a corporation like Subway as the underdog in this situation? I really don't understand why there is all this animosity towards those who seek justice in commerce.
This is the liberal logic. Whatever they believe at this moment is right.
When somebody talks about CEO's salary - they cry fowl that corporations are raping the middle class.
When those same corporations short change you every time (to pay CEO his salary) you buy a product from them, and are taken to court to get punished, the same liberals cry fowl that there is nothing wrong.
Liberal logic... no other way to call it.
Poor little jimboza. Always making his arguement based in narrow minded stereotypes. He is filled with so much unresolved anger. Perhaps its because his canidate lost. Or perhaps he is a "a bit short" on his on personal measurements. The refreshing part about this is that trolls, such as jimboza are actually on the decline. If he was a nice guy perhaps he would have someone to talk with instead of insulting and yelling at strangers on the internet. Perhaps a good sandwich might make poor little jimboza feel better. Good luck, clearly you need it.
A "footlong" can mean it's as long as a human foot. In strict Measurement Mathematics, if you say something is 12 inches long, you're saying it rounds to the nearest inch - between 11 1/2 an 12 1/2. If you say it's a foot long, you're saying it rounds to the nearest foot: so technically anything slightly over 6" long to just under 18" rounds to the nearest foot.
It's lawsuits like these that are the reasons other countries make persons who bring forth lawsuits and lose pay for their opponents legal fees. In America, there are enough lawyers in the legislatures that we won't get such a law: it would cut lawsuits back enormously.
If these guys actually win, there goes my faith in humanity.
You mean it survived the "my hot McDonald's coffee was hot" lawsuit?
This is in response to Antriel: I guess you don't know anything about bread making. The size/volume of bread is determined by the time it's given to rise/proof not by the amount/weight of dough. Therefore Subway isn't "saving" any money because the amount/weight of the dough is the same regardless of size/volume. So the only things these guys were shortchanged on was air.
Unless your Subway sandwich consists of only bread, you're also being short changed of all the other ingredients that go on that extra inch of bread (besides meat in some cases).
Just like Antriel, you need to think through your arguments much better before posting them.
No, they'd put the same number of slices of cheese/meat and the same amount of condiments on a 12-inch roll that they do now. They'd just space them out a little further. So much for thinking through an argument.
If they are successful in the lawsuit, they should get nothing more than the 1" bread end piece they claim they were cheated out of.