Subway Footlong Subs Not Really A Foot Long

Subway customers are taking out their measuring tapes to measure for themselves after Internet postings claiming a “shortage” in the worldwide chain’s famous footlong sub. The Connecticut-based sandwich company is squirming in the hot seat.

According to Yahoo News, the controversy began Tuesday in Australia, where a fastidious customer, Matt Corby, ordered a footlong sub and actually checked the length of the sandwich. Corby found the sub measured only 11 inches and immediately posted his findings on Facebook with a photo of his sub alongside the tape measure. He submitted his findings on the company’s page with the caption, “subway pls respond.”

The submission seems to have been taken down, but screengrabs taken of his image were reposted showing the photo, which quickly received more than 100 thousand likes and myriad comments.

Some on Facebook argue that “there are way more thing in life to worry about then 1 inch of sub.”

A local franchise owner told the paper the chain has cut corners, reducing the content of their cold-cut meats by 25 percent recently and raised the cost to individual store owners.

The company said in a statement today:

“We are committed to providing a consistent product delivering the same amount of bread to the customer with every order. The length however may vary slightly when not baked to our 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.”

According to Mercury News, a branding expert says the key to regulating damage when a social media frenzy arises is speed and directness:

“In today’s market you have to be able to roll with the punches and be much more fluid, responsive and responsible than before.”