$5 is the New "It" Word in Fast Food
"Five...five dollar foot longs." You've probably had Subway's catchy little ditty stuck in your head--ALL DAY--at least once by now.
Granted, it's not as nagging as Chili's "I want my baby back, baby back, back," but its pretty hard to shake, which might be a good thing.
Turns out, $5 is the latest win-win in fast food gimmicks. Subway raked in $3.8 billion with it, and now other restaurants are giving it a try too.
It started off humbly. Stuart Frankel, a New York native who owns two Subways in Miami, needed to kick start his sluggish weekend sales. So on Saturday and Sunday, he cut the price of footlong sub sandwiches by 1 buck.
And boom! Stuart's sales took off like a shot. He thinks customers like the nice round number. It looks like they do, because "$5 Footlongs" alone generated $3.8 billion in sales nationwide for Subway.
Subway has topped Wendy's and Burger King in market share, and could surpass McDonald's in total locations worldwide early next year.
So now its fast food monkey see, fast food monkey do. Boston Market has offered meals for $5 each, KFC is trying $5 combo meals, and Dominos and T.G.I. Friday's have started selling sandwiches for $4.99.
Judy Cantrell, Boston Market's chief brand officer, calls $5, "A price point that consumers respond to." Makes sense to me, its only one step up from $1, so it sounds cheap.
So what's next? The return of "Momma mia, that's a spicy meatball!"
Via BusinessWeek.
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I am sure you all know how I feel about this. Yes, push the buttons of all the people that are hurting money wise BUT they are making the choice to buy it soo...... we all know there are ways to eat better for not too much money. You just have to want to do it & plan for it.
ReplyArby's does something like this. Every so often they have 5 roast beef sandwiches for $5 and my husband falls for it every time. Normally, he doesn't go there and buy sandwiches, but when they're 5 for $5, watch out.
ReplyDo you tell him that he's ruining his health and digestive system with that kind of pigging out?
ReplyWow! You are hard on subway?
Well I have worked in retail for years (yes I know, the food court) so I always liked the healthier sandwiches at Subway.
Subway was one of the few fast food places that had a special healthier menu that was easy to spot on the menu board, easy to order, and they didn't just back it up with diet coke, they had a variety of healthier sides to make it easy to complete your meal. Best of all you didn't feel like you were missing out on anything.
ReplyOh I forgot to say that ocasionally AOL show segements of the network morning shows that showcase people who have lost a lot of weight and a dietitian explains how they did it. Well at least that dietitian endorsed the 7 under 7 (grams fat) subs at Subway as a suitable lunch.
ReplySubway definitely fulfills my fast food cravings. As long as you pass on the cheese and dressings it's not too bad.
ReplyIs this an ad for Subway?
ReplyThe best value and healthiest lunch is the one you make yourself. Then you know exactly what's in it!
And this is why America is obese.
ReplyWish it's just $5 for a subway in Singapore! It is around $6-8 for a subway meal.. Fast food is pretty pricey here for crap quality... it's weird, but I'd rather splash upwards $40 over a good meal of steak i a restaurant than to buy a fast food meal. McDonald's everywhere here and I am glad it's easy for me to avoid them because they're putting me off with their constant marketing ads.
That being said, I try to always eat at home whenever it is possible. :)
ReplyIt's not just Subway, guys...KFC has a $5 meal deal thing, Arby's has their 5 for $5, Boston Market, etc. Subway's probably the lesser of the evils, unless you opt for a meatball sub covered in cheese.
Reply