Jared Fogle
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| Jared S. Fogle | |
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| Born | December 1, 1977 Indianapolis, Indiana |
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| Residence | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Occupation | Spokesman, writer |
| Employers | Subway |
| Title | The Subway Guy |
| Height | 6 feet 2 inches (1.9 m) |
| Weight | 190 pounds (86 kg) |
| Religious beliefs | Judaism |
Jared S. Fogle (born December 1, 1977 in Indianapolis, Indiana), also known as The Subway Guy, is a spokesman employed by Subway Restaurants in its advertising campaigns. He is noted for his significant weight loss, attributed to eating Subway sandwiches (prior to his hiring by Subway).
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[edit] History
By his junior year at North Central High School, Fogle's weight was at 700 pounds, and he reportedly wore size 12XL shirts[1].
Several years later, after his roommate, a pre-med student at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., correctly diagnosed Jared with sleep apnea and edema, he was sent to the hospital. Fogle's father, who is a physician, told him he might not live past 35, and Jared began to turn his life around. At the age of 20, Fogle estimated he consumed a diet of around 10,000 calories a day.[2]
Interested by Subway's "7 Under 6" campaign, Fogle tried his first turkey sub, and enjoyed the sandwich.[1] He developed his own "Subway diet", consisting of a 6-inch turkey sub for lunch, and a footlong veggie sub for dinner.[1]
After three months on the diet, he had lost nearly 100 pounds, and weighed in at 330 pounds (150 kg). He stuck with the diet and soon began to walk as much as he could, rather than using transport, and would walk up the stairs rather than take an elevator. By the end of the diet Jared had lost over 240 pounds (109 kg).[1]
[edit] The Beginning of the Subway Campaign
In the Indiana Daily Student in April, 1999, a former dorm mate of Fogle, Ryan Coleman, wrote an article about Fogle's weight loss story after Coleman ran into Fogle and hardly recognized him because of the lost weight.[1] A reporter for Men's Health magazine saw the article, and included the "Subway sandwich diet" in an article on "Crazy Diets that Work". This article caught the eye of a Chicago-area Subway franchisee named Bob Ocwieja, who thought the story might have some potential, and he took the idea to Richard Coad, the creative director at Subway's Chicago advertising agency. In hindsight, Coad would later say "I kind of laughed at first, but we followed up on it."[1]
Coad and Barry Krause (the president of Coad's ad agency) sent an intern to Bloomington - with only vague instructions - to track down the "Subway guy" (at the time, they were not sure if he even ate Subway sandwiches, or some other brand of submarine sandwich). The intern started by going to a Subway near campus, and began describing the story about the anonymous "subway guy". A counter worker there immediately knew who he was talking about, and said "Oh, that's Jared. He comes here every day."[1] As of April, 2008, the store is still located below an apartment complex at 401 S. Woodlawn in Bloomington.
After finding out that Jared did indeed exist, and had lost weight as described in the article, Coad and Ocwieja took the idea to Subway's new marketing director, who had previous experience in fast food, and the marketing director responded "I've seen that before...Fast foods can't do healthy"[1] as a marketing vehicle. Subway's lawyers also weighed in on the idea of the promotion, saying that there would be liability issues with promoting some sort of informal medical claim.
The idea looked to be fading into oblivion, but Krause and Coad decided to try to run a regional ad campaign, and many franchise owners in the area also liked the idea. However, regional ad agencies didn't normally pay to make their own commercials; instead, they usually paid only to run the commercial spots in their regions.[1] Krause decided to make the commercials without receiving any money from other sources. He would later comment "For the first and only time in my career, I gave the go-ahead to shoot an ad that we weren't going to be paid for."[1]
[edit] The Campaign
The first spot aired on January 1, 2000, introducing Jared and his story, complete with a disclaimer: "The Subway diet, combined with a lot of walking, worked for Jared. We're not saying this is for everyone. You should check with your doctor before starting any diet program. But it worked for Jared."
The commercial was a stunning success, and the day after it aired, Krause began receiving calls from USA Today, ABC News, Fox News, and Oprah.[1]
A few days later, Subway's national advertising director called Krause and asked if the spot could be aired nationally. It was a smashing success, and Subway's 2000 sales exceeded those of the previous year by 18 percent. In 2001, they rose another 16%. Jared became a well-recognized national phenomenon.
Subway has used Fogle in a number of television commercials and sponsored in-store appearances throughout the United States. Fogle, who is Jewish, spoke at the grand opening of the first Kosher Subway in Cleveland[3]. Jared also attended the Grand Opening of the Kosher Subway in Baltimore.
In addition to his work directly for Subway, traveling as much as 200 days a year for the restaurant, Fogle also gives regular talks on fitness and healthy eating.[2] Since Fogle's advertising campaign began, Subway sales have more than doubled to $8.2 billion, though the portion of the gain attributable to Fogle and his more than 50 Subway commercials cannot be determined. In 2008, a Subway campaign celebrated Fogle's maintaining his weight loss for a full decade, with Fogle's announcement that he would retire his old pair of 62 inch pants likely to a museum after a final "Tour de Pants", a humorous reference to the Tour de France.[4]
According to one Subway executive, a brief departure from Fogle in 2005, coincided with a 10 percent drop in sales, until Subway felt compelled to bring him back.[4]
Fogle has been lampooned or otherwise referenced in a number of films and television programs including Saturday Night Live, Robot Chicken, The Sarah Silverman Program, The Simpsons, South Park, Scary Movie 3 (in a deleted scene), Just Friends, Austin Powers in Goldmember, and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
Power pop band Fountains of Wayne wrote a song for the animated movie Monster House (which was ultimately not used) in which they list all the things the monster house supposedly has eaten -- including "Jared from Subway." The cartoon South Park's episode entitled Jared Has Aides centers on Jared and the true "secret" for his weight loss.
On the March 17th 2008 edition of WWE Raw, Fogle, who was sitting in the audience, gave commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler a Subway sandwich and drink. Then WWE wrestler Santino Marella took the drink and threw it at Lawler and made it spill on his shirt. Marella took the sandwich, bit it and coughed it up, to show that it tastes horrible. WWE Diva Victoria also took a bite of the sandwich.
On April 12, 2008, Jared appeared on Fox's NASCAR Subway Fresh Fit 500 pre-race coverage. He brought sandwiches to the three hosts Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip and made jokes about each. They congratulated him for 10 years since he lost the weight.
As part of his brand identity, Jared is given Subway coupons to hand out in his everyday life. He often uses them in lieu of tips for service.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chip Heath & Dan Heath; Made to Stick, pp 218-221, Random House hardcover, 2007 ISBN 978-1-4000-6428-1
- ^ a b "The Subway Diet; Jared Fogle Becomes A Celebrity By Losing Weight". 48 Hours Investigates, CBS, September 3, 2004. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.
- ^ First Kosher Subway® Restaurant Opens in Cleveland
- ^ a b York, Emily Bryson. "Subway Can't Stop Jonesing for Jared". Advertising Age. (February 18, 2008). Retrieved on February 18, 2008
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