Back in February, an internet user sparked discussion after claiming that her Subway location had begun locking up their meats.
The reason for this, it seems, was to keep the meat fresh. As noted by CNN, the restaurant announced last year that it would be freshly slicing its meats, in contrast to the previous method of having them come pre-sliced. Cheese, steak, and rotisserie chicken are still delivered pre-sliced. In order to keep these newly sliced meats fresh, the company has opted to place a metal cover over them as soon as they are sliced.
However, some have claimed that there may be other reasons for this cover. In a discussion on Reddit about this topic, several users speculated that the restaurant was doing this not only to keep the meats fresh, but to encourage customers to order off of the menu rather than building their own sandwich.
Regardless of why the company rolled out the change, Subway customers aren’t too happy about it. A previous viral video complaining about the topic joked that “Subway tired of y’all telling them they not giving you enough meat.”
Now, a further video on the topic has sparked discussion on TikTok. In a clip with over 3.2 million views as of Saturday, TikTok user TT (@mynames.tt2) shows the metal cover that now masks the Subway sandwich creation area. In the text overlaying the video, she writes, “Bruh when did Subway start this where I cant see the food or how they making my sub??”
In the caption, the TikToker adds, “Like wtf I might not want that bacon bc it looks weird like what??”
Commenters continued to question the motivation behind the move.
“Isn’t the whole point of subway is they make it in front of you fresh,” asked a user.
“No cause I need to SEE the veggies to determine the sandwich vibe that day,” added another.
“I’d tell em to lift my sub up after every ingredient,” shared a third.
“Like am I supposed to memorize my order? I liked looking at it and telling what I wanted,” offered a further TikToker.
@mynames.tt2 Like wtf I might not want that bacon bc it looks weird like what?? #fyp ♬ oh my god bruh oh hell na man
Others revealed possible explanations for the change.
“I work at Subway we’re supposed to tell customers it’s to keep it cold but it’s so you choose an expensive sub from numbers and don’t complain about meat portions,” claimed a TikToker.
“I worked at subway not too long ago and it’s because they don’t want you to build your own sub anymore they want you to start picking the numbered items,” echoed a second. “That’s why we’re supposed to start [recommending them] and ask what subway series sandwich you want.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Subway via email and TT via Instagram direct message.
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