Subway Makes Poor Taste OceanGate Joke

Oh Subway; the sandwich shop that never stops generating controversy. Remember when there was all that hullabaloo about whether or not their tuna was real? Remember the lawsuits about the footlong subs not actually being footlongs? Well at the very least this latest issue doesn’t pertain to the business as a whole but merely to one of their franchisees. In the wake of the Titan submersible disaster, one Subway location in Georgia decided to use some wordplay to compare their subs to OceanGate‘s.

There’s an old adage that says, “Comedy equals tragedy, plus time.” Perhaps not enough time has elapsed though given the reaction to a sign outside a Rincon, Georgia Subway location. A picture posted on social media on July 1st, 2023 showed a sign that wasn’t stating any sales or specials; nor was it advertising a buy one, get one free deal. Instead, the sign proudly stated, “OUR SUBS DON’T IMPLODE.”

The photo by Timothy Mauck was posted to Facebook (now deleted) and quite obviously spread online. Something like that could only go so long before catching the eye of Subway’s corporate offices. The fast-food sandwich behemoth stated that they were made aware of the sign and spoke with the franchisee, informing them that it had “no place in our business.” The sign was subsequently removed and pictures from the following days showed the sign was blank.

Dark humor is certainly a thing, but there’s a time and a place for it. Perhaps the fact that the victims of the Titan implosion were wealthy makes it easier to chalk their deaths up to hubris. That doesn’t nullify the cost of human life though, nor does it factor in the emotional toll it takes on the families of those lost. This is something that Mauck noted himself when speaking about the sign. What may be funny to those removed from the incident isn’t quite so funny to those connected.

Safe to say, if you’re running a franchise, you probably should think twice before poking fun at the dead. Corporate probably isn’t going to approve puns that involve the immediate violent deaths of multiple people, especially if they’re already extremely defensive about the contents of their tuna.

Author

Heath Andrews

Heath Andrews has been a student of pop culture ever since he found himself to be the only student in 3rd grade who regularly watched "Get Smart" on Nick-At-Nite. Ever since then he's been engrossed in way too much media with a growing collection of music, books, comics, TV on DVD box sets, and a video game collection that could rival a brick and mortar store. Prior to writing for Nerdbot he's written for Review You, MyAnimeList, and various advertising companies. Since 2016 he's run his own YouTube channel under the moniker of The Critical Android where he livestreams video games and uploads podcasts about pop culture and Frasier.

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