Subway Savagely Went After McDonald’s In This Ad, And People Are Uncomfortable With It

When you think of Subway, you think sandwiches — not burgers. So that’s why it’s a little strange that Subway’s new ad campaign seems to be a direct attack on McDonald’s, one of the biggest burger chains in the world. Sure, fast food chains are all technically in competition with each other, but Subway’s recent ad makes it seem as if their clientele is tired of burgers. For the record, being tired of cheeseburgers is something that I’ve never personally had to overcome.

The ad isn’t even subtle. While they’ve released a few videos targeting McDonald’s, the one that’s making everyone mad features a heart monitor. With a red background — also known as one of the signature colors of McDonald’s — a voice is heard saying “burger” in a rhythmic way until it falls flat. “Is your burger routine feeling a little flat?” the ad reads.

But here’s the issue. Not only does McDonald’s have a variety of different food, but the ad is so set on talking about burgers that people actually assumed it was a McDonald’s ad. And some even admitted on Twitter that the ad sent them straight to Subway’s secret competitor.

Plus, on a heavy rotation, the ad becomes pretty frustrating.

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Fast food fans were quick to sound off about it on Twitter, some even asking why Subway’s marketing team thought the high-pitched takedown ad was a good idea.

This @SUBWAY burger commercial may be the most annoying thing ever. Fire your marketing team.

— Andrew Forrest (@Andrew_Forrest1) September 17, 2018

Others felt inspired to stand behind Mickey D’s. Hey, call it loyalty.

@SUBWAY hey subway due to this really....really annoying burger commercial you guys have on every commercial break, I will be going to @McDonalds tomorrow and eating all the burgers....all of them

— Bull Shet (@Earl_Sweatpants) September 18, 2018

Subway has released a few more ads trying to discredit the burger. They’re a bit calmer than the heart monitor spot, but still get the message across that there’s some McDonald’s fatigue. To add insult to injury, the sandwich chain even uses our favorite mascot in their campaign.

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Even though this isn’t the first or last time that fast food chains have had a public feud (remember when Wendy’s went after IHOP’s “IHOB” rebrand?  , or when Carl’s Jr. filed a lawsuit against Jack In The Box in 2007 over the way the latter chain insinuated angus burgers didn’t come from cows?) it kind of seems like Subway may have set themselves up to lose. There isn’t much that’ll inspire us to part with our Big Macs. #SorryNotSorry.