TheAgitator.com
Jared vs. Spurlock
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004I’m with the Center for Individual Freedom when it jumps on Subway for an ad running in Europe that promotes Morgan Spurlock’s unfortuante movie Supersize Me.
But not for the same reasons. Yeah, it’s lamentable that Subway chose to take a few swipes at U.S. culture in the ad. But I’m more pissed that the sandwhich chain sold its soul to the anti-fat nannies. Here’s the second largest food chain in the world lending credence to the idiotic idea that McDonald’s is somehow to blame for the fact that a guy who ate 5,000 calories per day and didn’t exercise….gained weight and felt crappy. Subway knows damned well that if Spurlock had eaten 5,000 calories daily worth of cold cut combos, Sunchips, Subway cookies, and soda, he’d have seen the same results.
Sadly, this is fairly indicative of the way the private sector responds to criticism from the “we know what’s best for you” crowd. It’s generally along the lines of “well, at least we’re not as bad as they are. Go get them.”
Of course, if there’s one thing we should have learned about the nanny-statists and trial lawyers by now, it’s that actual accountability and responsibility don’t matter much to them. It’s about (a) generating outrage, and, (b) what they can get a jury to believe. “Doing the right thing” and “corporate citizenship” mean nothing. Deep pockets mean everything. Casting your lot with the Morgan Spurlocks of the world may win you short-term favor with the nutrition mullahs, but rest assured, they’ll eventually find their way to you, too.
It’s like befriending that creepy guy at the office everyone ignores, on the theory that if he likes you, and he finally does go postal, he’ll at least kill you last.
But in the end, you’re not doing much better than the people he got to first, are you?
If you read a bit on the history of alcohol prohibition, you’ll find that the same thing happened in the 75 years or so leading up to the 18th Amendment. Each time the temperance movement gained a little momentum, everyone making a living in the booze trade turned on one another. The brewers pushed blame on the distillers. The distillers pointed fingers at the saloons. And the saloons said the brewers and distillers should have been making less potent libations. And of course all three moved to outlaw homemade alcohol.
And for a while it worked for all three, as each at some point won favor with prohibition forces by supporting restrictions, taxes, and condemnation of one or both of the others. Few in the alcohol industry ever took root in principle, and made the case that blame for the deleterious effects of alcohol alleged by the temperance activists ought to be confined to the people who actually abuse alcohol, and not cast on the milllions who consume it responsibly, or on the drink itself.
And of course they all went down in the end.
In summary, be careful what you wish for Subway because you just might get it.
C’mon Radley, show me some love.
I am Fat, obviously McDonalds is to blame, um.. give me money!
Gastic Bypass’s cost money ya’know…
And somehow, we’re supposed to be surprised that corporations in a capitalist system will eschew libertarian principles in order to pad the bottom line?
This is similar to the a point that’s often raised within the “Wal-Mart is evil vs. Wal-Mart is a capitalist hero” argument. The anti-capitalists try to argue that A) capitalism is not virtuous, and B) that greed takes over principle. They try to do this by pointing out that Wal-Mart will often eschew free-market principles by bribing local pols and skirting tax/zoning laws, etc.
And it always boils down to the same thing. This is not a slap in the face to CAPITALISM, this is a slap in the face to the politicians and people that let them get away with it. Companies have one goal: the bottom line. The degree to which they care about corporate ethics varies quite a bit, and some companies will exploit loopholes and do everything within the law to get ahead. This is not the fault of capitalism, but the fault of those who let them get away with this.
So, while Subway should be chided for this obviously unethical grab for the bottom line, the people who will be ultimately responsible are the customers who swallow this tripe. If sales flatten out or fall after this little incident, then maybe Subway will think twice next time it’s faced with the dilemma of whether or not to eschew principles and ethics for the bottom line.
Subway sucks! They put so little meat in their sandwiches you practically cannnot see it.
Sun Chips are good for you.
I hate the way they’ve been cutting the bread for the last couple of years; the stuff always falls out of the sandwich, and I get 1 bite of mustard and then 1 bite of bread and 1 bite of meat and 1 bite of salad, never all at the same time.
No way Tab, anything with SUN in it has to be bad. Ask Al Gore.
subway is officially boycotted by me.
Come on! McDonald’s has all kinds of healthy options on the menu. Salads, veggie burgers, apple dippers. So, if someone is that concerned with their weight they don’t have to have the “Big Mac” with fries, they can opt for the veggies. That stuff doesn’t cut it on the weekend when you’re hung-over though. At that point the only cure is grease, grease and more grease.
Much better, Radley.
Wait a minute…
Are you saying that the footlong steak and cheese with mayo, chipotle sauce, and double meat isn’t going to help me loose weight??? But I thought Subway was supposed to be healthy.
I’m suing. Who’s in?
I’ve been boycotting Subway for over a decade now. Their ‘food’ is awful. No lawsuits tho, I don’t want to contribute to the Republicrats.
So Subway is willing to pander to the pro-”fat nanny” crowd and Quiznos is willing to pander to the pro-”singing deformed gerbil” crowd. Who want’s Togo’s?
er, “wants”, not “want’s”. I do wish to appear marginally literate.
I don’t know what Togo’s is, but I think the Quiznos spong monkeys are great! I mean really, they’ve got a pepper bar.
And thankfully, the creepy guy got walked outta here about two years ago.
Togo’s is a fairly common (though nowhere near as ubiquitous as Subway) sandwich chain that I’m assuming is based in the west coast. They’re much bigger here (NorCal, both Bay Area and Central Valley) than Quizno’s, so I guess I just assumed they were national. I appear to be wrong. Ya learn somethin’ new…
Oh come on, it was a funny liner :)
Don’t hate me because I like to Eat Fresh.
I read about Spurlock’s little movie a couple month’s ago on the Sundance website and thought: WHAT A FLIPPING IDIOT! And does he think everyone else are idiots. OBVIOUSLY you’ll gain weight if you consume that much crap!
I haven’t seen the film but maybe he was using sarcasm? I cannot believe he had to put himself through that to prove what is so terribly obvious to intelligent people.
And if this is the case it’s kindof ironic that Subway is using it the way they are.