Subway was thrown—literally—into the spotlight after a D.C. resident and then-Justice Department employee hurled one of the sandwich chain’s footlongs at a federal officer, which became a viral moment this past week. Now, Subway may have to deal with something that’s grown beyond a single hoagie toss.
“Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else,” Pirro said in the video that has now racked up over 2 million views.
But what happens when a large brand gets tied up in a national debate?
Other well-known brands have been monitored and discussed closely by the public for cultural and political implications.
Experts told Fortune that Subway’s position is unique in that it didn’t incite any of the debate it’s embroiled in now. Unlike an ad campaign, policy change or public support of a marginalized community or cause, Subway hasn’t sparked a brand conversation of their own doing. Instead, experts said the unlikely string of events is a case study in brand image management due to external forces and crisis communication.
“Subway didn’t choose to be in this situation,” Stacy Rosenberg, professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, told Fortune. Yet, “they do need to issue a crisis communication statement to take some level of control of the message.”
Although Subway was thrown into the D.C. police takeover debate involuntarily, she said companies have to prepare for the unexpected to be able to respond in a timely manner.
Subway hasn’t publicly responded to the incident yet, and didn’t respond to Fortune for comment.
“I think (Subway) is waiting it out, probably hoping not to have to” comment, Melissa Murphy, another marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, told Fortune.
As social media allows for individual videos to become flashpoints and viral symbols, messaging can slip away from brands quickly. It’s Subway’s responsibility to provide a response, she said.
Murphy said that one of the exercises she does with marketing students is to brainstorm “every possible thing that could go wrong,” rank them by likelihood, and draft up the beginnings of public statements for the ones with the greatest chance to happen.
Though a Subway sandwich throwing “may not have been on the bingo card,” it falls under a political issue affecting a brand, which is something companies have to keep in mind, she said.
“If a brand isn’t prepared for that, I mean, it’s sort of shame on them,” Murphy said.
But, others don’t think Subway needs to do anything right now.
“There is a time to respond,” crisis communications expert Cindyee Harrison, CEO of Synaptic, a PR agency for small businesses, told Fortune. “I’m not entirely sure that that moment has arrived or will arrive for Subway.”
Harrison said the brand of the sandwich thrown at the federal officer has taken a backseat in people’s minds.
“It is the irony of the weaponization of a sandwich,” she said. “I think that’s the point more. So it really could have been any sandwich. It happens to be from Subway.”
The sandwich becoming an iconic symbol was an organic crowd response to a viral moment, something common in today’s media and likely to pass quickly, Harrison said.
If Subway potentially looks to capitalize on this heightened brand conversation online, it could come off as disingenuous, she added.
Though Murphy said she’s surprised Subway hasn’t issued an official statement on the matter, she understands the sub chain doesn’t want to alienate any of their customer base.
“I think it forces their hand a little bit to have an opinion,” Murphy said. “And that’s dangerous.”
