A TikToker baffled Subway employees at a store in Canada when she asked for a $5 footlong sandwich in a viral video posted June 15.
“Am I that old that I just went to Subway and asked what their $5 footlong was for the day and they were like, ‘What are you talking about?’” user Brianne (@brmorx) says in her video, which has been viewed 90,400 times as of Tuesday afternoon.
@brmorx @Subway ♬ original sound – breeezy
When she repeated herself, the workers told her that the promotion hadn’t been run in years.
The $5 footlong deal began in 2008 with a catchy slogan but slowly petered out around 2012 due to suboptimal costs for franchise owners, according to Hustle. In an effort to save the company’s image after a bout of bad press and financial struggle, the promotion ran again in 2017, this time advertising a footlong for $4.99. The deal disappeared again in 2018 before briefly reappearing in 2020 in yet another form, this time as two-foot-long sandwiches for $10.
The appeal of the $5 footlong, according to Brianne, was that she couldn’t finish an entire sandwich in one sitting, meaning she could get two meals for the price of one, essentially.
“I loved being able to go in for a low-cost sandwich and have the other half for leftovers later. It felt like buying a six-inch and getting one free,” she told the Daily Dot via Instagram direct message.
She ordered just a veggie sub during her recent visit, which cost $16 CAD.
“You can’t find lunch anywhere for under $15 to $20 anymore,” she said. “It’s just not as convenient eating fast food anymore. I’d rather just save my money and eat out somewhere that is fresh.”
One commenter on Brianne’s video recalled being able to get a six-inch sandwich for $2.99 before the $5 footlong special. “I think Tuesdays were meatball,” they wrote.
Prices are much different today, however. “I got a turkey bacon footlong, no drink, no cookie… $17 and some change,” another user revealed. “Never again!”
“I got a wrap with chicken and no extras,” a further commenter shared. “It was $15. I’ll never do it again.”
“Yup spent 32 bucks on a wrap and 12 inch sub. Not meals either!” a fourth added. “I used to get a wrap almost every day and it was 5 bucks.”
