I Investigated Subway's Decline — The Reality Is Worse Than You Think

Last year, America lost about two Subway restaurants every single day. In that same year, the company behind Subway made more than 40 times the profit it made two years earlier. This is the story of how the most famous price tag in fast food, the $5 Footlong, made Subway a king, and then slowly turned against it. In this video: • The $1,000 loan that started Subway • How one Miami franchisee invented the $5 Footlong, and the $3.8 billion year that followed • Why ending the $5 Footlong felt like a price hike • 2015: the peak, the spokesman and the founder • Too many stores: about $500K per Subway vs about $1M per Jimmy John's • The franchisee revolts: "At what point is enough?" • "Subway bread isn't bread" and the tuna lawsuit Subway actually won • Two Subways: why profit went up while 729 stores closed • Jersey Mike's, the $8 billion rival • The newest price on the menu, and can Subway come back? CHAPTERS 0:00 Two Subways a day 1:11 A thousand dollars 2:28 Five dollars 3:49 The trap 5:10 2015 6:24 Everywhere 8:18 The revolt 11:04 Is it even bread? 12:50 Two Subways 15:57 The rival who won 16:54 The last price