Subway Just Pulled Their Most Popular Sandwich Deal

You may remember the iconic $5 Footlong promotion from Subway that was created around 15 years ago. A 12-inch sandwich for one $5 bill was a great deal while the country was recovering from an economic downturn in the late 2000s. It did so well they're trying to reap some of that success now during the coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, it isn't working. So the deal is now exclusively marketed toward regulars that use the Subway app instead of every customer.

Related: Subway Permanently Axes Two of its Popular Menu Items

The "$5 Footlong when you order two" deal didn't do as well as expected in the first weeks of the campaign and won't last until the fall like Subway expected it to. "We have not seen enough incremental traffic to grow owner profits," the company told franchised restaurant locations, according to Restaurant Business.

But many franchisees decided not to even offer the deal to begin with. They were uneasy about how much money it would bring in, even with an incentive that each location would get $700 a month in Coca-Cola rebates to use the footlong deal. More than 3,000 Subway locations have shut down for good in the past few years. Franchisees believed the promotion for two footlongs for $5 would lead some of them down that path, too.

According to a statement about the promotion, a spokesperson for Subway argued a different view of the deal. "More than ever our guests are using the Subway app and online ordering to get their favorite Footlongs, and we want to meet them where they are online with a great value on fresh and quality food," they said. "The excitement for the iconic $5 Footlong when you buy two offer has been positive and we are refocusing this limited-time offer on digital ordering to make this promotion even more convenient." So, download the restaurant's app before you go in order to get the deal if you want it.

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