Subway Snubs Homeschoolers
May 25, 2008
Written by: Katie
This is such a shame. Do these people live under a rock?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=65217
Subway sandwich contest: Homeschoolers not wanted
Spelling-challenged promotion offers gift ‘bastket’ to winners
Posted: May 24, 2008
7:00 pm Eastern
By Jay Baggett
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Subway, the sandwich restaurant, wants to hear your child’s story – unless he or she is homeschooled.
The national chain’s "Every Sandwich Tells a Story Contest" offers prizes and a chance to be published on the Subway website and in Scholastic’s "Parent & Child" magazine but specifically excludes homeschoolers:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Contest is open only to legal residents of the Untied (sic) States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.
Subway’s website promotion not only misspells "United" States, but offers the grand prize winner a "Scholastic Gift Bastket (sic) for your home."
The 2007 winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee was Evan O’Dorney, a 13-year old homeschool student from Danville, Calif.
Contestants are urged to write, in 500 words or less, a story that has a beginning, middle, and end using one of four provided story starters:
The Mysterious Meatball
When the invitation to the Meatball came in the mail…Turkey Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
There was a loud knock on the door, but when Salami Sam opened it …The Race to Red Onion Ranch
Everyone gathered in the center of town for the start of the race except …Nothing Better
The smell of fresh baked bread coming from the store was so good that …
The contest, launched in January, has a deadline of June 30, 2008. A grand prize winner and 6 runners-up will be selected on July 15 and announced approximately a week later.
The company’s website promotion encourages submitters to describe in their essays "random acts of fitness," such as eating right, exercising, playing sports and living a healthy lifestyle.
Subway has marketed itself for several years as a healthy alternative to fast food, featuring spokesman Jared Fogle who went from 425 pounds to 190 pounds on a daily diet of the chain’s lower-calorie sandwiches.
The exclusion of homeschoolers, presumably because the grand prize includes $5,000 worth of athletic equipment for the winning child’s school, has caught the attention of bloggers who educate their children.
Valerie Bonham Moon, writing for HomeEdMag, referred to the exclusion as "Subway’s P.R. gaffe."
"By now, the Subway sandwich shop marketing division must know how bad of a decision it was on the part of whichever wonk who decided to expressly exclude homeschoolers from their latest contest. E-mail lists may not be utterly aflame over the exclusion, but there is more than one p—ed-off homeschool mom spreading the word. I’ve been reading their e-mails."
Moon notes Subway, with a bit of forethought, could have easily included homeschoolers:
"One of the more obvious work-arounds that the developers of the Subway contest could have included for homeschooling parents who entered on their children’s behalf, was for the equipment to be donated to a local park, or to a school of the winner’s choice. Problem solved – good will all around. Too bad that it didn’t play out that way.
"I look forward to seeing how the Subway wonks handle their self-inflicted wound."
The blogger at Capturing Today, a homeschooling mother, isn’t waiting for the self-inflicted wound, suggesting homeschool families "act now!"
"Excuse me, but there are MILLIONS of homeschool students in this nation and this is just discrimination. A homeschool student could easily donate the athletic equipment to their homeschool athletic association, local park, athletic center, neighborhood center or the like. I realize they are doing this to have a mass-marketing effect, but they could have just as great a media response from a charitable homeschool student donating the prize.
"I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for us to make our voices heard that we as homeschool families are tired of being cast in a negative light.
Jim and Cathy Peschke, blogging at Croydoncraft, expressed their displeasure by entering an essay on behalf of their 3-year-old homeschooled daughter who, while visiting a Subway restaurant, breaks into tears upon learning she’s not eligible to enter the contest.
"I cried and cried, and asked Daddy if we could leave. He said ‘Certainly. Not only will we never visit a mean old Subway store again, we’ll organize a B-O-Y-C-O-T-T of Subway stores by all your homeschooling friends!’
‘I sure hope Subway changes their silly policy so Mommy and Daddy can take me back for more sandwiches.’"
May 25th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Here’s my husbands response (when I read him this):
“They must be afraid that homeschoolers have an unfair advantage. That would be embarrassing for the education system if they picked the winners and they were all homeschooled kids.”
:)
May 25th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Based on all their typos, I’m guessing they don’t want homeschoolers to enter for fear they might use too many big words. Pathetic! Ya think they have a public school kid for an editor?? Sheesh.
May 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
But what if I, as a public school parent, want to bring my children to your HOMESCHOOL dance? Can I do that? Just because they are not public schooled doesn’t mean they don’t like dances… I mean, you made a point of how it is only for homeschoolers. So it is ok for HOMESCHOOLERS to exclude public school kids but not the other way around?
May 25th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Plus, it is a bit dramatic that a three year old cried and cried over not being able enter a contest… such is life. There are many, many things in life that we would all like to do but cannot and that is life… making such a drama out of it is ridiculous. It is a CONTEST for God’s sake… if they decided to have a contest for homeschoolers, I could care less. No one has killed anyone or anything… although with your drama, one may think so.
Some people need to find something important to occupy their time… because this is just pitiful. There are many homeschool contest and activities all over the web and you don’t see public school parents whining and making a big deal. They ONLY reason that contest is for public/private school kids only is because it is equiptment FOR THE SCHOOL… yes, a homeschooler could donate it to a park or somehting, but they want to donate it TO A SCHOOL. It is Subway’s money and they are nice enough to donate it… now homeschoolers want to tell them to donate it where THEY demand?
May 25th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Crazy. Just crazy. Nuts, in fact. :(
May 25th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
LOL! I thought I was the only one to notice the misspelling of basket! This infuriates me and it should not be tolerated. Homeschooling families have fought long and hard to have the same rights as public schooled kids. >:<
May 25th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
A couple of random thoughts …
1. I wish I patronized Subway, just so that I could boycott it.
2. This contest exploits (publicly schooled) children in a manner that is so transparently crass, it makes me physically ill. It’s a good thing that I don’t eat Subway sandwiches, particularly the meatball ones. Enough said.
May 25th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
And, now for my next silly question. Has anyone written to the company telling them of their slight over site and minor case of discrimination?
It could be a good thing to do.
My wife has had big things changed because she wrote and queried decisions made by big corporations.
I must have a look and see if this competition is open in Australia and see if they have done the same.
Oh, thanks Katie for bringing this to our attention.
God Bless,
Stan
May 25th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Eh, I can’t get exercised about it. I guess they have a right to exclude whomever they wish from their silly contest. It’s sort of thing we do, anyway.
Homeschoolers would have likely swept all the winning spots anyway, which would have been too predictable, and embarrassing.
May 25th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Oops, I meant to say “It’s NOT the sort of thing we do, anyway.” Meaning, we don’t usually try for those sorts of contests.
May 25th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I read this somewhere “Subway, like most corporations, will take a tax write-off for the the athletic equipment as a charitable contribution. Tax law says that in order to do this, the benefitting organization has to be a 501(c)(3) qualified tax-exempt organization or school, thus, the contribution cannot be made to an individual. These are the rules for virtually every company that has a philanthropy program.”
Regardless, Subway made a very stupid thing by doing this. Such bad publicity!
May 25th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I just e-mailed them and said we would continue to enjoy their sandwiches, but were sad that they didn’t include us in their contest. We don’t need to look like jerks. Pizza Hut and their BookIT promotions treat us just fine!
May 25th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Um did you ever think that maybe it is because the prize is athletic equipment for the child’s school??? Being a little sensitive don’t you think?
May 25th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I can understand that they would not include home schoolers. Since the prizes will be awarded to the winner’s school, it isn’t quite fair for one family to benefit as much as hundreds or even thousands of children in a public school will. Makes sense to me. They COULD have offered something to home schoolers though, I suppose.
Maybe if home schoolers show maturity in this case, they will be given another opportunity. To be rude in return of their oversight makes us no better than their excluding us.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I have to say the misspellings crack me up. Just shows Subway isn’t using their heads much to begin with. One would think by now there would be enough attention drawn to that one aspect that they would correct their promotions of it at the least.
As for the above comments if you read the entire article those voicing their objections were not saying the families should get the money, but rather give it to a local school of their choice or park. Sounds reasonable to me!
May 25th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I agree - donate it to a local rec. center or YMCA or something, in the name of that family’s homeschool.
My hubby wants me to write a letter. ;)
May 25th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
They can exclude me from their contest. I’m allowing my daughter to be excluded from public school and all it’s harshness.
There will always be contests that are designed to reach a certain population that is a fact of life. I’m not going to win a contest directed at motorcycle driving. I won’t win a contest for people who live in Utah, etc. Why? Because I don’t qualify so I wouldn’t enter. My daughter doesn’t qualify for this contest, we won’t enter. No big deal.
By the same token no pubic school student is going to win a scholarship from our state homeschool organization, HSLDA, or any number of other homeschool vendor/organization sponsored contests. I would not want to be forced to accept public school students in these contests so why would I demand to be allowed to participate in theirs? How would homeschoolers respond if public schoolers were offended for not being allowed to enter into our local homeschool organization contests?
I don’t agree with the way they’ve worded it, but, it’s their contest, it’s their choice. As is that it’s mine to homeschool.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
What some are neglecting to notice is that those who turn in their story with a Subway receipt store number are supposed to receive a free book (while supplies last, of course). So, because parents choose a different educational path for their children, the kids are denied the privilege of getting the chance for the token free book. Truly, it isn’t about the homeschool/not debate for our family. For us, it is about the wording being offensive. They could have worded it as “non-profit institution of your choice will receive the equipment” or even something to the effect of “due to the nature of this program, the top prize cannot be awarded to a homeschool”…fine, we get it. The point is to promote health and their business to the largest cross-section of people possible…BUT, in their wording, they have created some pretty rotten public relations in my opinion.
As requested by my dh, our email has already been sent ;o) We suggested that they offer an alternative prize or even contest for homeschools. Simple enough. Offer a gift card or something and give the kids a chance. It doesn’t all have to be equal, but it shouldn’t exclude someone who should be perfectly legal, aside from the fact that they don’t attend an educational institution to get their diploma.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Eh doesn’t bother me at all really. The prize isn’t suitable for a homeschool family. It’s designed for a school. I totally agree with Kristy that hundreds of children will benefit from 5 grand in athletic equipment. Um… where would I even store that much athletic equipment? It’s their business to do with as they please and they chose to do a big school type prize. It doesn’t bother me one bit. So they didn’t set up a seperate section of the contest just for me. So be it. Honestly I don’t know why homeschoolers get upset at this kind of thing.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
To boil it down for our family: Why should kids be treated differently based on where they learn to read and write and calculate math problems? They are required to receive an education by law, we follow the law. They get as good as (or better in many cases) of an education as those in public and parochial schools. Yet, somehow, in many of these programs, they are excluded just because they don’t learn within a facility that was built specifically for teaching children. Somehow, either homeschooling isn’t considered an adequate education to groups like this, or they feel that “we” are just a negligible part of the market at large and they exclude home schools. The third option is that they just lack common sense and don’t realize that we do buy books, eat subs, and talk to our friends…and may be upset by their lack of consideration of our educational choices.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Ha, Ha, Ha. Here you go again, Katie, lighting a fire under all our complacent tushies! Frankly, I don’t patronize stores that don’t bother to proof read thier reader boards or literature. It just points to the lazy attitude that pervades thier entire business. Subway has every right to target this contest at whomever they like, but I agree that it was a major gaffe, and is sure to create a PR nightmare. Tsk, Tsk Subway.
May 26th, 2008 at 1:20 am
In thinking about this tonight… I remembered in Colorado, there was a library program/contest designed just for home schoolers. Should the public schooling community have shown outrage over such a thing? There are some programs that are better designed for home schoolers and others better designed for public schoolers. It seems to me that to want to be “equal” and have all the opportunities allowed to public school students is exactly what we don’t want as home schoolers.
As for why they didn’t offer an alternative to home schoolers… it seems obvious, they WANTED the money to go to a school where many children (and taxpayers alike) would benefit. Since it is Subway’s money, why shouldn’t they decide who can win their prize?
I am being dogmatic about this because I think home schoolers are too prejudice against public schoolers… and I think that making a fuss about such a little thing is dangerous. The quote by the 3 year old was ridiculous, too… a 3 year old doesn’t even fit the profile for the contest - the child must be K-6th, right?
So, a parent of a newborn should throw as much a stink as the home schoolers?
May 26th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Aww…that’s too bad. I’m sure that Subway decided on their contest and the prize before they ever came up with the rule excluding homeschoolers. It’s not a snubbing. We just didn’t fit into their plan. No biggie.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I don’t know what the big deal is. While I think homeschooling is great there does seem to be a great amount of negativity on both sides against the other. The story about the three year old is laughable. Are we really to believe the child was that upset? I think the parents were upset and told her she was being denied something. Setting her up to be negative about kids that go to schools while feeling very dramatic about a light against homeschoolers.
I think the fact that Subway doesn’t have someone that knows how to spell writing their press releases is a little scary. The typos were so obvious. Subway can set up a contest however they wish. No matter how they set it up somebody over there needs spellcheck or a dictionary.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
This is so sad. We are not homeschoolers–have never been–but it’s scary. And spelling/grammar errors are unacceptable in EVERY situation. Doesn’t matter WHERE you went to school! Ugh!!!
May 26th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I agree with the commenter that said that ‘public schooled’ kids cannot win our homeschool scholarships. I think that we need to pull our offended toes in a bit, and save our outrage for something that is really important. I’ve been homeschooling for nine years now, and think that those who are so worked up over this are making alot of us look bad. Like many of the above have said, it is Subway’s money to spend. I think it would be prudent to take this one on the chin, and put our energy into something that is not as trivial as this. JMHO
May 27th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Why would you want to eat that food anyway???? Nitrates nitrates nitrates!! So to all the homeschool parents who dislike public schools including the children and the parents that allow them to attend, regular doctors,( not chiropractic and homeopathic practioners and midwives) non organic materials, foods and vitamins…what else do you have issue with??
May 27th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Barb, seriously you dislike the kids who go to public school?
May 27th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
here you go… http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200805270.asp
May 28th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Subway apologizes to home schoolers
May 28, 2008
Dear Lori,
Your efforts made a difference!
Today, Subway apologized for excluding home schoolers from its “Every Sandwich Tells a Story Contest.” AFA has verified a newly released apology from Subway by its partnering Scholastic public relations department.
The apology reads:
Regarding your concerns about the Subway contest that excludes home schools from contest eligibility, Scholastic and Subway apologize to all individuals who have taken offense at this. Our intention was never to make independent schooled children feel discriminated against or excluded from this specific promotion.
Throughout the course of the year Scholastic runs a number of contests and sweepstakes that are open to all teachers and students. The eligibility of this contest in particular was solely put in place to award a large group of children with the grand prize of $5,000 worth of athletic equipment. We do however understand how home- schooled children could benefit from this type of prizing and will make sure eligibility is open to everyone in future promotions.
We appreciate your feedback and will make sure a similar situation does not happen in the future.
I want to thank you for taking time to contact Subway. AFA has thanked them on your behalf.
Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution?
Sincerely,
Don
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
May 28th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Why the attitude Barb? The majority of comments were in favor of Subway. I homeschool, eat Subway, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s (not on a daily basis of course!), go to conventional doctors and my kids have public school friends that we love and encourage. I only have two kids, I don’t sew or knit, but I admire those who do! We’re all different! That’s what makes life and blogs so interesting!
May 29th, 2008 at 7:50 am
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200805280.asp
…and they fixed the spelling errors I see too. ;-)
May 29th, 2008 at 11:42 am
In resopnse, currently I do have a bad attitude because it seems as if everyone, regardless of their religion or school choice has gone a bit nuts in their search for their “piece of the pie”. Yes I find blogs interesting too but the level of intolerance on some of them are frightening.
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
First, I am a taxpayer as well, so the fact that this prize is supposed to benefit taxpyers doesn’t hold water.
Secondly, hslda does not want the business of the public schoolers. Subway does want the business of homeschoolers. If you want my business, don’t exclude my kids from a contest *for kids*. If you don’t want my business, run whatever kind of contest you like!
This was a contest for every single kid in the stated age group Except my kids. If the exception was:
race
religion
sex
IQ
physically or mentally challanged
the whole story would be different.
However, I don’t eat at Subway anyway. If I did, I would tell my store how disappointed I was with this discrimination, and I’d eat elsewhere for the duration of the contest. Just like I would if they ran a contest for only white kids or only boys or only girls or only Christian kids (which is hilarious to even write here, lol, no business that wants to open it’s doors to the public the next day would do such an insane thing).
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Just read the post containing the apology from Subway.
If I did eat there, lol, and I believed that they sincerely just blanked out on this one, I’d say “thanks, we look forward to the next chance” and go back to eating there.
Lots of people are seriously clueless about homeschooling. It’s not too much of a stretch to believe that their PR and marketing section and so forth did not realize how many kids they were exluding, or take the time to think past “we want to give equipment, giving it to one family is a no go, just run the contest for kids in a school”.
Hopefully this situation will cause folk to think. “Always Think” as Bertie says…..