My Beef With Subway
August 8th, 2008 by Bob Bly
When you are imprecise with language in copywriting, it conveys an impression of sloppy thinking and can also undermine your credibility.
A case in point: the new commercial from Subway for their hot beef sandwich that says: “everybody wants to try Subway’s hot beef sandwich.”
The problem is that word “everybody” — which is so transparently an exaggeration that it defies believability.
Do people on low carb diets who are avoiding bread want this sandwich — which comes, of course, on bread?
What about vegetarians? Do they really want to try this new beef sub?
How about people that don’t like subs … people who don’t eat fast food … people who prefer ham or chicken to beef?
A better approach: “Beef lovers nationwide can’t wait to sink their teeth into Subway’s new Hot Beef Special Sandwich.”
This identifies the audience (meat eaters) and conveys the image of desirability and popularity while avoiding the obvious lie of “everybody.”
This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 3:50 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 8th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
[…] Original bly.com blog – bly.com direct marketing blog […]
August 8th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I don’t have a problem with it. Yes, it’s an obvious exaggeration, but this kind of thing has been done for so long by so many that we’re desensitized to it by now.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I’d like to like Subway, the healthy fast-food restaurant. However, my problem with Subway is a peculiar smell I notice after eating there. My theory is that there is an encompassing smell that attaches itself to Subway visitors. I think phenomenon may be due to their in-house yeast/bread baking process.
August 9th, 2008 at 2:49 am
[…] My Beef With Subway… […]
August 9th, 2008 at 4:59 am
A good point made. I have some of these imprecise words on my own homepage-copy and feel uncomfortable with it. This afternoon, i will take a red pen and .. thanks Bob.
August 9th, 2008 at 9:25 am
“Beef lovers nationwide can’t wait to sink their teeth into Subway’s new Hot Beef Special Sandwich.”
lol. nice and snappy.
The problem I have with the ad is with the word “hot” – are we talking temperature, “spiciness” or “sexiness”!
August 9th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
ML: “Hot” refers to temperature; the TV spot shows steam rising off the beef in a sandwich with the top half of the roll removed. Can’t remember if it’s roast beef or brisket.
August 9th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
My favorite subject! I can rant forever about things I hate about commercials – television and print. The word “virtually”. How the first commercial is repeated again just before a show restarts. Exaggeration – we have a VW commercial on the radio asking what you can do with $199. Buy a new pair of jeans or lease their car? I buy my jeans at Costco for under 20 bucks. People who write commercials think we’re dumb?
August 10th, 2008 at 6:45 am
I believe the ad writers (and therefore the folks at Subway) are depending on ad readers’ knee-jerk (irrational) response rather than their logical examination of the words. Copywriter mavens out there selling their wares to other copywriters depend on the same response when they write about tutorials and seminars which will enable students to write “kick-butt copy.”
Such are the perils (or profits) of our business.
An even more notable example of Bob’s point is the classic Sarah Lee commercial years ago:
“Nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee.”
I believe if you still scour the Internet, you’ll find that even the Journal of Symbolic Logic takes that one to task.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am
This is the same company that for years used a once overweight person Jared to insinuate/imply that he lost all his weight by eating at Subway. They lost me a long time ago in my mind no matter what they do for just that reason.
Now it’s all about Eat Fresh what happened to the losing weight thing…oh because their food has just as much or more FRESH calories as the next fast food place.
Oh Congrats Jared for having lost your Fattness for 10-years now commercial. Imply, Imply, Imply but at least Jared is getting easy money!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I never particularly liked Subway. Their food smells like plastic, and their ad showing a hot pastrami sandwich with cheese is well, a sin.
That said, I like Bob’s version better.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I stopped at a subway one night to get sandwiches for my wife and I while traveling. They wanted $2.00 for two paper cups of water!
A few months ago, I tried the local Subway. I could spend another dollar and get a complete meal at a buffet restaurant a couple of blocks away.
But my beef is those who say “everybody doesn’t”, when what they really mean is “not everybody does”. Big difference. The former means the same as “nobody does”, whereas the latter means “some people don’t”.
Communication is framing your words so it is impossible to be misunderstood.
Clarke
August 26th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Bob, I love your eye for detail! I don’t think I ever caught the vagueness in that ad, and obviously you have been writing direct response for a long time!
But couldn’t Subway be creating a “bandwagon appeal”?
I had a English teacher in high school who spent a couple weeks teaching us logic and I think I recall there was a list of appeals and bandwagon was one of them.
So can anyone explain the difference between identifying the audience and this bandwagon appeal? (at least in ad writing)
September 21st, 2008 at 11:26 pm
I agree with your point. So many other commercials use this type of assuming language that I really don’t pay attention to it anymore. Nevertheless, it’s something that could so easily be changed (as it’s so annoying), as you suggested.
I, on the other hand, mentioned Subway at http://www.mybeefonline.com and their ridiculous contests, where it’s probably safe that everybody will lose at winning the grand prize.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
WOW you people are all idiots! IDIOTS! Where do you all live in the middle of nowhere. Stupid people should not have access to technology.
Hi my name is Joe Consumer, I’m going to evaluate some food franchises. Hmmm lets see McDonalds….pooo, Burger King….pooo, Taco Bell….pooo, Jack-in-the-box….poooo, Sonic….more pooo. All sugar and salt based foods. If you’re going to analyze quick service food restaurants you need to campare them all on the same plane. Like it or not, in the same catagory Subway kills all quick service restaurants for health and fat content. Thats a fact not an opinion, if you like it or not idiots.
February 26th, 2012 at 9:25 am
Spanish Lessons melbourne…
[…]My Beef With Subway – bly.com blog – bly.com direct marketing blog[…]…
May 17th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Mind blowing Gdiddy auto auction begins; largest sale tops 200,000.Some of the most rare state license plates sold in lots for five figures. A set of classic South Dakota plates sold for $26,000, while Pennsylvania plates fetched $29,900.
July 25th, 2013 at 6:37 am
likes is incredibly uncomplicated, really don’t avoid above steps and save your Facebook Page Likes. Also check out Here you can check how to divert your Facebook Page traffic to you Web-site Connect with TricksWindow on
July 31st, 2013 at 2:10 am
I?m impressed, I must say. Really rarely do I encounter a blog that?s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you’ve gotten hit the nail on the head. Your idea is outstanding; the issue is something that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I am very pleased that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.
August 1st, 2013 at 5:55 am
You actually make it seem so easy along with your presentation however I in finding this topic to be really something which I feel I would never understand. It seems too complex and very vast for me. I am having a look ahead to your subsequent put up, I¡¦ll attempt to get the hang of it!
August 1st, 2013 at 4:28 pm
A powerful share, I simply given this onto a colleague who was doing just a little evaluation on this. And he actually purchased me breakfast as a result of I discovered it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the deal with! However yeah Thnkx for spending the time to debate this, I really feel strongly about it and love studying extra on this topic. If doable, as you turn out to be experience, would you thoughts updating your weblog with extra particulars? It’s extremely useful for me. Large thumb up for this weblog put up!
August 1st, 2013 at 5:30 pm
Very efficiently written post. It will be supportive to anyone who utilizes it, as well as yours truly :). Keep up the good work i will definitely read more posts.
August 2nd, 2013 at 4:44 am
It?s laborious to seek out knowledgeable individuals on this matter, but you sound like you already know what you?re talking about! Thanks
August 2nd, 2013 at 5:02 am
I wish to show thanks to you for rescuing me from such a circumstance. As a result of researching throughout the the net and getting techniques which were not pleasant, I figured my life was gone. Existing without the presence of approaches to the issues you have solved as a result of your website is a critical case, as well as the ones which could have badly damaged my entire career if I hadn’t discovered your web page. Your actual talents and kindness in dealing with almost everything was excellent. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had not encountered such a solution like this. It’s possible to at this time relish my future. Thanks for your time so much for the expert and sensible guide. I won’t think twice to suggest your site to any individual who would need tips on this topic.
August 2nd, 2013 at 10:17 am
Also, weblog often and with fascinating material to keep individuals interested in coming back and checking for updates. 562500
August 2nd, 2013 at 8:14 pm
Hi my friend! I desire to say that this article is awesome, wonderful published and contain approximately all essential infos. I’d like to see more threads like this.
August 2nd, 2013 at 11:34 pm
I think this is one of the most vital info for me. And i’m glad reading your article. But wanna remark on few general things, The website style is great, the articles is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers
August 3rd, 2013 at 7:53 am
It is best to participate in a contest for among the finest blogs on the web. I’ll suggest this web site!
August 4th, 2013 at 7:24 am
Hiya very cool blog!! Man .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I’ll bookmark your site and take the feeds also¡KI’m satisfied to search out numerous useful info here in the submit, we want work out extra techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
August 4th, 2013 at 9:34 am
It is in reality a great and helpful piece of info. I’m happy that you just shared this useful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
August 5th, 2013 at 12:14 am
I am really loving the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A number of my blog audience have complained about my website not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any ideas to help fix this issue?
August 5th, 2013 at 11:37 pm
I’ve learn several just right stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much attempt you place to create this type of fantastic informative website.
August 7th, 2013 at 2:21 am
There are some fascinating deadlines in this article but I don?t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There’s some validity but I will take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like more! Added to FeedBurner as nicely
August 7th, 2013 at 6:55 am
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My site goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you might be interested feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by the way!
August 13th, 2013 at 10:04 am
There are some fascinating time limits in this article but I don?t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There’s some validity but I will take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like more! Added to FeedBurner as well
August 15th, 2013 at 2:36 am
A powerful share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in truth bought me breakfast as a result of I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you grow to be expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:03 am
I genuinely enjoy searching at on this website , it has fantastic content .
September 4th, 2013 at 7:00 am
I like what you guys are doing. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys. I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my website. 🙂
September 20th, 2013 at 1:40 pm
always looking for good reading.
October 11th, 2013 at 7:01 am
It is the happiest day of my life so far, when I am watching these funny videos here, since after complete day working I was so tired and now feeling nicely.
October 18th, 2013 at 5:05 am
It’s remarkable for me to have a site, which is good in favor of my experience. thanks admin
October 30th, 2013 at 9:42 pm
What would most of us do devoid of the magnificent thoughts you share on this website? Who comes with the tolerance to deal with essential topics in the interest of common readers like me? My spouse and i and my pals are very fortunate to have your website among the ones we often visit. Hopefully you know how much we enjoy your efforts! Best wishes from us all.
December 8th, 2013 at 3:05 am
Hello this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
December 9th, 2013 at 9:58 am
Heya! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new apple iphone!
Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all
your posts! Keep up the superb work!
January 3rd, 2014 at 7:58 pm
It’s actually a very valuable section of info. I am grateful that you choose to shared this convenient data here. Please continue to be us educated in this way. Appreciate revealing.
February 15th, 2014 at 4:28 am
Everything is very open with a precise description of the challenges. It was truly informative. Your website is very useful. Thank you for sharing!
February 17th, 2014 at 7:08 am
Hi there to all, it’s in fact a pleasant for me to pay a visit this web page, it consists of precious Information.
April 19th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
Every weekend i used to pay a visit this web site, as i want enjoyment,
since this this web site conations truly nice funny material too.
January 18th, 2020 at 8:58 am
I genuinely enjoy searching at on this website , it has fantastic content .
Health Geeku
February 10th, 2021 at 2:28 pm
yh
June 2nd, 2021 at 6:54 am
Steak is one of the most enjoyable dishes around the world. There is a proper steak way to slice a streak, i.e. it should be cut across its grain boundary. But some people find it difficult to find how to cut a steak. We’ve got some pro tips for you that will help you to perfectly cut your steak.
How to cut a steak before cooking is the most vital process in making your Denver steak look beautiful and give the perfect cut and bite. Below steps map the proper way to cut the steak before cooking: –
June 11th, 2021 at 5:31 pm
We all immediately recognize the flat snoot, wrinkled face, and large expressive eyes of the loveable Pug. The Pug breed’s roots can be tracked back to Imperial China in 700 B.C., during the time of Confucius, when the breed was known asHolland’s William I, Prince of Orange, to an assassination attempt by Spain. Over time, pugs have been the favored breed or both royals and celebrities—from Napoleon and Queen Victoria to Andy Warhol and Rob Zombie.
https://pugslandbreeder.company.com
November 30th, 2021 at 11:28 am
From Ndure buy online best quality gym bags packs at affordable price. Fast Shipping
From Ndure buy online the latest fashion women track suits online at affordable price. Fast Shipping.
September 5th, 2022 at 2:44 am
I some time think that Is Eating Meat Make Us Smart?
October 18th, 2023 at 11:22 pm
A baby boy gift hamper is a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of a baby boy. These hampers are filled with a selection of baby essentials and cute items tailored to boys, ensuring that the little one is both comfortable and stylish.
November 15th, 2023 at 2:55 am
Achieve prominent online visibility with BSNS Consulting’s Best Search Engine Marketing strategies. Our team leverages the power of search engines to place your brand at the top of search results, ensuring maximum exposure and targeted leads. Partner with us to optimise your search engine marketing efforts and stay ahead in the competitive digital realm.
December 6th, 2023 at 6:49 am
Turn your Scrap Metal into cash with We Buy Dead Stocks, the largest dead stocks buyer in the UAE. We offer top prices for your surplus materials, promoting sustainability and responsible recycling. Sell your scrap metal today and make the most of your unused resources.
December 11th, 2023 at 1:17 am
A barberstuhl is a specialized chair used in barbershops. It is designed to provide comfort to male clients and facilitate optimal working posture for the barber.hese chairs often have a classic design and can be antique or retro-styled.
May 10th, 2024 at 6:34 am
As a trusted Social Media Agency Pakistan, BSNS Consulting understands the power of social media in modern business. We craft compelling social media strategies that drive engagement, build brand loyalty, and foster meaningful connections with your audience. Elevate your social media presence and stay at the forefront of your industry with our expert services.