It's a cardinal rule in advertising: if you're going to boast of your product's size, you should darn well make sure that it lives up to the hype!
Subway has finally settled its case with regard to the size of its Footlong sandwiches. The court has approved the settlement agreement earlier this week. The settlement agreement provides that Subway will measure its sandwiches to make sure it is in fact 12 inches. Furthermore, Subway has agreed to enforce compliance inspections. This is to ensure that all store outlets are compliant with the terms of the agreement. In Subways' released statement, they say "We have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve." They add further "Our commitment remains steadfast to ensure that every Subway Footlong sandwich is 12 inches at each location worldwide."
The case initially began in 2013 when an Australian customer of the sandwich chain posted on social media a photo of the inadequately sized sub that he purchased. This eventually opened the floodgates for suits from people from across the globe particularly, in the U.S., to file their own separate cases. A consumer fraud class-action suit was eventually filed against Subway because of its advertised $5 Footlong sandwiches being short of 12 inches. This class-action suit initially accused Subway of its awareness that its Footlong submarine sandwich is not 12 inches, because sandwich prices are set at the corporate level then sent down the line to the individual franchises. It was further alleged that Subway is purseposefully defrauding its customers by selling the then "$5 Footlongs" (the Footlongs are currently priced at $6).
The settlement agreement has been in the works as early as two years ago. As for the settlement figures, Subway has agreed to pay the plaintiff's attorneys $525,000 for legal costs. With regard to the plaintiffs, the 10 people who represent the class-action will receive $500 each. Other members of the action will not be receiving anything in from the settlement agreement.
