Subway Settles False Advertising Case; $645,000 in Penalties Plus Gift Cards for Eaters
Subway has agreed to settle a false advertising case for $645,000. The chain will agree to give some consumers $2 gift cards because promotions promising discounted foods were not honored in stores. The settlement was won by Marin County, Calif., prosecutors, according to the Marin Independent Journal:
Authorities filed a civil action against the company after customers reported that advertised promotions — such as “Sandwich of the Day,” “Make it a Meal” and Make it a Footlong” — were not being properly honored at the counter.
Now Subway must offer 142,000 $2 gift cards on a first come-first served basis, and consumers will not have to prove they had been overcharged previously. It will also establish a Web site and an 800 number through which consumers can claim the cards.
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
BNET User Analysis