Thursday, January 17, 2013

Subway has been ripping people off an inch a second since they first opened


What's in an inch? Apparently, enough missing meat, cheese and tomatoes to cause an uproar.
Subway, the world's largest fast food chain with 38,000 locations, is facing widespread criticism after a man who appears to be from Australia posted a photo on the company's Facebook page of one of its footlong sandwiches next to a tape measure that shows the sub is just 11 inches.
More than 100,000 people have "liked" or commented on the photo, which had the caption "Subway pls respond." Lookalike pictures popped up elsewhere on Facebook. And The New York Post conducted its own investigation that found that four out of seven footlong sandwiches that it measured were shy of the 12 inches that makes a foot.
The original photo was no longer visible by Thursday afternoon on Subway's Facebook page, which has 19.8 million fans. A spokesman for Subway, which is based in Milford, Conn., said Subway did not remove it.
Subway also said that the length of its sandwiches may vary slightly when its bread, which is baked at each Subway location, is not made to the chain's exact specifications.
"We are reinforcing our policies and procedures in an effort to ensure our offerings are always consistent no matter which Subway restaurant you visit," read an e-mailed statement.
The Subway photo - and the backlash - illustrates a challenge companies face with the growth of social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Before, someone in a far flung local in Australia would not be able to cause such a stir. But the power of social media means that negative posts about a company can spread from around the world in seconds.
"People look for the gap between what companies say and what they give, and when they find the gap - be it a mile or an inch - they can now raise a flag and say, 'Hey look at this,' I caught you," said Allen Adamson, managing director of branding firm Landor Associates in New York.
Subway has always offered footlong sandwiches since it opened in 1965. A customer can order any sandwich as a footlong. The chain introduced a $5 footlong promotion in 2008 as the U.S. fell into the recession, and has continued offering the popular option throughout the recovery.
An attempt to contact someone with the same name and country as the person who posted the photo of the footlong sandwich on Subway's Facebook page was not returned on Thursday.
But comments by other Facebook users about the photo ran the gamut from outrage to indifference to amusement. One commenter urged people to "chill out." Another one said she was switching to Quiznos. And one man posted a photo of his foot in a sock next to a Subway sandwich to show it was shorter than a "foot."
"I've never seen so many people in an uproar over an inch. Wow," read one Facebook post. "Let's all head to McDonald's and weigh a Quarter Pounder," suggested another poster.
The Subway footlong photo is just the latest in a string of public relations headaches for that were caused by a negative photo or event about a company going viral.
Last year, a Burger King employee tweeted with a picture of someone standing in sneakers on two tubs of uncovered lettuce. Domino's Pizza employees posted a video on YouTube of workers defacing a pizza in 2009. And a KitchenAid employee last year made a disparaging remark about President Obama using the official KitchenAid Twitter account.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

From the NRA: Obama & Biden need to be removed


President Obama's agenda to reduce gun violence will be unveiled today at the White House, but the National Rifle Association is not waiting to react, preempting Mr. Obama's announcement with a hard-hitting ad that blasts the president as an "elitist hypocrite."
"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" the ad asks. "Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools?"
In the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the NRA proposed stationing an armed guard in every school in America to prevent school shootings, but the president has expressed his aversion to the proposal.
In a bit of a non-sequitur, the NRA's ad links the president's resistance to their proposal to his call for the wealthy to pay more taxes.
"Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he's just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security."
The result, according to the NRA? "Protection for their kids and gun-free zones for ours."
CBS News Political Director John Dickerson noted today on "CBS This Morning," the ad is "about hypocrisy, not safety," pushing emotional buttons unrelated to gun policy to stir up broader opposition to Mr. Obama's proposals.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney condemned the NRA's ad as "repugnant and cowardly," telling CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett, "Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight. But to go so far as to make the safety of the President's children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly."
And Mr. Obama's former press secretary and senior adviser, Robert Gibbs, also minced no words in reaction, calling the ad "disgusting on many levels" on MSNBC.
"It's also just stupid," said Gibbs. "This reminds me of an ad that somebody made at about 2 o'clock in the morning after one too many drinks, and no one stopped it in the morning."
The ad is reportedly airing on the Sportsman Channel, and the NRA has not ruled out buying air time on other networks.

From the White house: Executive orders all 23






1.Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.2.Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.3.Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.4.Direct  the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited   fromhaving a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.5.Propose rule making to give law enforcement the ability to run a full back ground check on an individual before returning a seized gun.6.Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.7.Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.8.Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).9.Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered  in  criminal  investigations.10.Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.11.Nominate an ATF director.12.Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.13.Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.14.Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.15.Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.16.Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.17.Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.18.Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource  officers.19.Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship andinstitutions of higher education.20.Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.21.Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.22.Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.23.Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.