Subway: ‘We had no idea’

Subway and a former affiliated executive have refuted reports that they were warned years ago of spokesman Jared Fogle’s sexual interest in young girls.

The chain told The Huffington Post that it had no record of complaints from a franchisee about inappropriate comments by Fogle about minors and soliciting sex. However, it also indicated that it was still investigating the franchisee’s claims, and noted that the complaints allegedly were aired to Jeff Moody, then-CEO of Subway franchisees’ advertising cooperative, the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust. The Fund was independent at the time from Subway’s headquarters team and completely separate from the brand’s parent, Doctors Associates.

Those allegations are not true, according to a statement issued over the weekend by Moody, who left the Fund in 2011. He told the Associated Press that he learned of suspicions about Fogle’s behavior this summer, when an investigation into the pitchman’s behavior became public.

Subway did not respond to a request for comment, and Moody could not be reached by posting time.
 

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Why are so many restaurant chains filing for bankruptcy?

The Bottom Line: A combination of rising costs and weakening sales, and more expensive debt, has caused real problems for restaurant chains. But the industry is also really difficult.

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Trending

More from our partners