Subway Was Rebranding Jared as a Family Man Before Child-Porn Raid
In the months before his home was raided as part of child pornography investigation, Jared Fogle was being rebranded by Subway as a “family man” to help the sandwich chain compete against newer rivals like Chipotle and Jimmy John’s.
Bloomberg Business reports that, so far this year, Fogle—a father of a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter—has starred in an animated Subway commercial with his family and made an appearance at the premiere of Pixar’s Inside Out. A since-cancelled cameo in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! was also scheduled for later this month.
“My life has evolved,” Fogle told Bloomberg Business last month. “The next step in my story is I have a family, and a lot of parents can relate to that. You want to be a role model for your children, and obviously one of the most important things is maintaining the weight, keeping it off.”
From Bloomberg:
Fogle’s updated family-man image was rolling out just as McDonald’s was releasing a remade Ronald McDonald, KFC was bringing back the Colonel, and Burger King was reviving its crown-clad mascot. But unlike fictional fast-food mascots, launching a new Jared campaign meant framing a narrative around real-life changes. “I’m not just a stagnant person like some of those other mascots,” Fogle said. “I hope to be a great parent and a great role model for kids anywhere. I hope to be with Subway for a long time to come.”
Tuesday afternoon, Subway and Fogle “mutually agreed” to temporarily suspend their relationship. No charges have been filed against the 37-year-old spokesman, and law enforcement agencies have not yet released a statement about the raid.
Fogle also spoke to Bloomberg about Russell Taylor, the former director of the Jared Foundation who was arrested on child pornography charges two months ago.
“It was a very sad situation that came out of that, but my goal is to make something very positive out of all this,” he said.
