Brand Analysis of Subway for Stroytelling class at Full Sail University

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Brand Advertisement Analysis
Nancy M. Brumfield
Digital Marketing, Full Sail University
MKT163-0 Storytelling for Marketing - Online
Professor Katherine Coulthart
April 25, 2021
Brand Advertising Analysis

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Subway is a brand that has been in business since 1965. Over the years, their logo has
changed, but their message has remained the same. They provide a healthier choice to other fast-
food restaurants. When I think of Subway, I automatically think of the commercials starring
Jared. His story is the epitome of what Subway tries to portray in its logo, advertising, archetype,
and brand voice.
I chose the brand Subway for this assignment. Subway is the largest submarine sandwich
chain in the world. They use the archetype Everyman because they want everyone to feel

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included and have a sense of belonging. They want to be perceived as an everyday choice,
authentic, familiar, and down-to-earth.
Since its beginning in 1965, Subway has had six different logos. The first logo, Pete’s
Super Submarines, was completely different than all of the others. The lettering in this logo was
light blue and red on a white background. Subway rebranded in 1968 and changed to their
current name, Subway. The logo that debuted in 1968 was the name Subway with yellow letters
on a white background. They also introduced the arrows on the S and Y in the new logo.
According to Nicole Dean’s article, Hidden Meanings/Facts within Famous Logos, “The arrow
pointing left in the S and the arrow point right in the Y of the Subway logo symbolize the
entrance and exit of a Subway. It represents that you can have food on the way.” (para. 3) The
arrows have stayed throughout each logo redesign. The new logo, introduced in 1969, was the
name Subway with SUB in white and WAY in yellow. The letters were on a black background

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that had the shape of their foot-long bread. They redesigned the logo again in 2002. In this logo,
they stuck with the white SUB and yellow WAY. They changed the font to a bold sans-serif, and
the letters had a thin dark green outline. In 2015 they updated the logo to bright green lettering
on a white background. That logo only lasted one year before they introduced the current logo in
2016. The new Subway logo introduced in 2016 uses the font YWFT Unisect Extrabold in their
logo. The logo consists only of the name Subway, with the arrows attached to the S and Y. The
Subway logo consists of yellow and green letters, SUB in yellow, and WAY in green. The
yellow color symbolizes warmth and joy, while the green color represents nature and health. I
thought their color choice was interesting since most fast-food places use red in their logo
because the color red stimulates appetite and makes people hungry. (mzeeshanarshad, 2013) I do
believe this logo works well for Subway. It helps them to stand out from other fast-food
restaurants as a healthier choice.
When I think of Subway commercials, Jared automatically comes to mind. In 2000,
Subway introduced Jared to the world. The 2006 Subway commercial was a great story showing
how Subway is a healthier choice over other fast-food restaurants. (Analog Memories, 2020). It
inspired many people to eat meals at Subway over other fast-food places to lose some weight.
The story structure is pretty simple. In the beginning, Jared is explaining how he used to eat
burgers and fries from fast-food restaurants and was obese. Then in the middle, he decides to
start eating Subway sandwiches because they are low-fat. With his new diet of eating a Subway
sandwich a day and he loses a lot of weight. He peels off the fat suit he is wearing and reveals his
new thinner physique. The ending is Jared telling his obese self goodbye.

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Some elements of the Hero’s Journey were used in this commercial starring Jared, but not
all of them. Jared starts in the ordinary world, eating fast food, like many Americans. Meeting
the Mentor was when he saw Subway made sandwiches with fresh, low-fat ingredients. Jared
crosses the threshold when he decides to start this new diet of eating a low-fat Subway sandwich
every day. His death and rebirth were shown as he peeled off the fat suit, revealing his skinner
physique. His reward is no longer being obese. The return to elixir is telling his fat suit later big
guy as he walks away with his Subway sandwich.
Subway’s tagline is: eat fresh. Their call to action is to eat healthily.

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References:
Subway logo. (2021, March 25). Retrieved April 25, 2021, from https://1000logos.net/subway-
logo/
Dean, N. (2015, September 18). Hidden Meanings/Facts within famous Logos: TRELLIS INC.
Retrieved April 25, 2021, from https://trellis.co/blog/hidden-meaningsfacts-within-famous-
logos
Mzeeshanarshad (2013, August 5). Psychology of colors. Retrieved April 24, 2021, from
https://www.slideshare.net/mzeeshanarshad/javeria-psychology-of-colors
Analog Memories. (2020, November 29). Subway (2006) television commercial - Jared Fogle.
Retrieved April 25, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWJEMSe__N0