Subway's Jared Campaign

The advertisement that I have decided to analyze for this week's activity is the most recent Subway commercial featuring Jared Fogle. As many already know Jared became the spokesman for Subway after losing an immense amount of weight through his creation of a Subway diet and through plenty of exercise. Seeking to capitalize on Jared's health kick and the recent trend of many Americans to develop healthier eating habits, Subway's latest ad compares its low-fat sandwiches to the Whopper found at Burger King. In fact, in the ad Jared actually holds up a Whopper telling the audience the number of calories and grams of fat that it contains and then compares this to the extremely low number of calories and grams of fat found in some of Subway's sandwiches. In short, the message that Jared is sending is that if you want to be healthy, you should eat at Subway and not at Burger King. Therefore, the target audience of this advertisement is those people who are trying to improve their health or those people who are trying to maintain it. When Jared's message is coupled with Subway's slogan, "Eat Fresh" it is obvious that Subway is positioning itself away from other fast food chains and it is taking a subjective stance within the group of people who wish to be healthy.

In terms of semiotics, it is obvious that Jared has enhanced his physical appearance by going on his self-constructed Subway diet. In some of the very first ads that he did for Subway, Jared was shown in the classic weight loss pose with a before picture where he is obese, and an after picture, where he is holding up an old pair of jeans that no longer fit him because they are way too big. However, in watching these images and trying to process all of the underlying codes that they contain the viewer most often does not get a chance to read the fine print that is coincidingly flashed on the screen. In the newest ad, semiotics take center stage once again as Jared has a whole table of Subway sandwiches lined up to give the viewer a visual of how many subs he or she would have to eat in order to match the fat content of one Whopper. While this is happening and while Jared is giving his talk about how he used to love Whoppers until he decided to eat Subway and lose weight, there is small print text being shown at the bottom of the screen. In effect, the text says that Jared's results are not typical and that he did an excesive amount of exercising in combination with eating subway in order to lose all his weight. Also, within the text the viewer finds that Jared's sandwiches do not contain many of the extra indgredients that Subway has to offer. Lastly, and most importantly, Subway gives a disclaimer stating that it does not endorse the diet created by Jared and that individuals should consult their physician before starting any type of diet. In short, the semiotics become all powerful in this advertisement as the most important messages found in the small print are seen by very few if any audience members. In this way, the target audience consisting of those who are obese, as well as those wishing to maintain their relative health, are duped into thinking that they are getting a better deal than they really are. While it is true that Subway is a much healthier alternative to other fast food restaurants, the audience still is not getting to see the whole picture and that is that, on their own, Subway sandwiches do not have the power to change your level of fitness. In all, it is a great strategy to market subs, yet it also keeps many susceptible members of the target audience in the dark, and this is why the Jared ads are so effective.