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Can Subway and Jared repair the damage?

John Russell
john.russell@indystar.com
Subway restaurant spokesman Jared Fogle arrives at the world premiere of "Maleficent" at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles May 28, 2014.

Jared Fogle, who built a storybook career pitching Subway, has put the sandwich company in a jam.

Should the restaurant chain sever ties with its longtime spokesman, following a high-profile raid on his Zionsville house on Tuesday, just two months after an associate's arrest on child pornography charges?

Or was Subway smart to just suspend its relationship with Fogle while the investigation runs its course, and reassess the relationship after all the facts are known?

From a marketing standpoint, both choices are fraught with complications, marketing experts say.

And it's tough to say whether Fogle's career as corporate pitchman can survive, even if he is exonerated.

"Brands are shaped by perceptions," said Tim Calkins, marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "The longer that people mention Jared in the same breath as child pornography, that's a huge problem for Subway."

It's unclear where the investigation is going, or how long it will take to sort out the facts. Authorities did not comment Wednesday after their high-profile sweep of Fogle's house a day earlier. No charges have been filed.

In the meantime, marketing experts wonder whether Fogle and Subway can mend their longtime relationship.

Karen Post, author of "Brand Turnaround: How Brands Gone Bad Returned to Glory," said this is not a run-of-the-mill brand crisis.

"In the court of public opinion, there are some scandals that people tend to forgive, but not child pornography," she said.

She said Subway did the right thing by suspending its relationship with Fogle, while waiting for the facts to come out.

"This is a little icky, but until everyone learns more, it's not fair to jump to conclusions," she said.

Even so, sometimes even small scandals involving corporate pitchmen tend to spur companies to take big steps.

A decade ago, Dell computer dropped actor Ben Curtis, better known as "the Dell Dude," as its advertising star after he was arrested trying to buy marijuana.

Now it's Fogle's time in the spotlight — and not the kind for which corporations gladly pay millions of dollars.

When the FBI, Indiana State Police and U.S. Postal Service descended on Fogle's home this week, seizing electronic equipment, the media attention was instantaneous. Photos and headlines went around the world. Jared quickly turned into a punchline on Twitter.

On Tuesday, Subway said it was suspending its relationship with Fogle because of the probe. The company removed all mention of Fogle from its website. Fogle's lawyer said his client was assisting investigators.

"He has not been detained, arrested or charged with any crime or offense," attorney Ron Elberger said Tuesday.

Nevertheless, it shows how quickly a trusted pitchman can turn toxic to a company.

For more than a decade, Fogle's personal story has been intricately intertwined with that of the Milford, Conn.-based chain.

He has appeared in more than 50 commercials for Subway, often helping boost sales. Over the years, Fogle was gold for the company. Subway expanded to 44,027 restaurants in 110 countries. The private company became the third-largest restaurant chain in the United States, with sales last year of $12.3 billion, according to Nation's Restaurant News.

Several times, Subway tried to shift its marketing campaign to use less Jared. But franchise owners objected.

"Whenever the sales get sluggish, we say to 'put Jared back on TV' and the sales go up, every time," Hardy Grewal, a franchise owner in southern California told Advertising Age in 2008.

Fogle was not a natural marketer. He looked wooden and low-key on camera, without TV charm.

But it was his story and nice-guy image that did the talking for him.

He was a real person, not a Hollywood actor-turned-pitchman, like Matthew McConaughey (Lincoln cars), Liam Neeson (Supercell Games) or Pierce Brosnan (Kia).

Nor was he an athlete pitching sporting goods or luxury brands (think Tiger Woods for Nike or Rolex). And if Subway drops him, his career is almost certainly over.

He had only one story to tell and it was the perfect story for Subway. He ate their food and lost weight. That became the company's story, too, allowing it to say it sold a healthy option to fast food. All Jared had to do was hold up his old jeans with the 58-inch waist.

"He is such a likable guy and a longtime fixture, with a real human-interest story," Post said.

As an undergraduate student at Indiana University, Fogle tipped the scales at 425 pounds. He had trouble fitting through doors and walking more than a few blocks.

Fed up with his unhealthy lifestyle, Fogle visited a nearby Subway restaurant and ordered a low-fat sandwich. Over the next year, he dropped more than 200 pounds in about a year while eating turkey subs and veggie subs (no mayo, no cheese).

The school's student newspaper wrote a feature about Fogle's impressive weight loss. When Subway learned of the story, the company turned him into the face of its brand, using his weight loss to promote its menu as a healthy alternative to hamburgers and fries.

He built his good-guy reputation into a career, traveling up to 200 days a year attending Subway events and visiting Subway restaurants.

But now, Subway might have big pants to fill.

No company wants to be associated with an investigation possibly connected to child pornography.

Marketing experts say it would be unfair to jump to conclusions about Fogle's conduct. But in general, they said that companies always take chances when they link their brand heavily to a corporate pitchman.

"Many companies will cut and run if there's even a hint of wrongdoing," said Robert Frankel, a marketing consultant in Los Angeles.

And the longer this investigation drags on, "the tougher it is for Subway to continue any relationship with Jared," Calkins said.

Neither Subway nor Fogle returned calls to The Indianapolis Star for this story.

Lately, the sandwich chain has been struggling. U.S. sales slipped 3 percent last year. Some industry analysts say Americans are looking for healthier options than cold-cut footlongs. They say Subway could use a new menu and a new marketing campaign.

Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, said this might be a natural time for Subway and Fogle to part ways.

Although Fogle has given the company more than a decade of marketing support, the company could use a fresh start and keep an arm's length from Fogle's issues.

"My thinking is Jared and Subway had a great run," Thompson said. "But it might be time for Subway to go in other directions."

Call Star reporter John Russell at (317) 444-6283. Follow him on Twitter @johnrussell99.