Thanks to a new ad debuting during the Daytona 500, Subway will confirm what had long been speculated: That the sandwich brand has followed NASCAR driver Carl Edwards from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing.
Subway, which was with Edwards for six years at Roush Fenway, is scheduled to be primary sponsor of his No. 19 Toyota Camry four times during this Sprint Cup season — at Auto Club Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
Paul Bamundo, director of sports marketing, public relations and partnerships for Subway, would not divulge the size of the deal but said it is around the same spend that the company made when it was aligned with Roush Fenway. He said that while Subway’s relationship with Roush was good, the sandwich maker had built up so much brand equity with Edwards, it felt committed to switching teams with him.
“We were honest throughout the process that we really wanted to work with Carl,” Bamundo said. “Once it became apparent Carl was going to change teams, all parties involved were wonderful about it.”
To mark the switch — and do so with a splash — Bamundo
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Carl Edwards (top) and Joe Gibbs combine heavy lifting with healthy eating in a new ad.
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and Tony Pace, Subway’s CMO, thought it would be appropriate to create an ad featuring team owner and former NFL coach Joe Gibbs alongside Edwards. In conjunction with Subway’s agency of record, MMB, Boston, Bamundo and Pace crafted a spot that has Edwards in a gym working out with fellow longtime Subway endorser Jay Glazer. The two lift weights and playfully rib each other about their respective sandwich preferences before Gibbs comes into frame and lets them know that their tastes are too strong for his liking.
“It’s just such a nice interplay because clearly Jay comes from more of the football world, even though the nice tie is also that he’s a trainer and Carl is so into training and being in great shape,” Bamundo said. “But now that Coach Gibbs went from being a hall of fame football coach to hall of fame race leader, it’s a nice payoff for the spot.”
Subway plans to debut the ad during this weekend’s Daytona 500. After that, the spot primarily will air on NASCAR programming.
The company’s four races where it will be Edwards’ primary sponsor are split throughout the year, Bamundo said, in part because of the length of the NASCAR season as well as to make sure the brand appears during races with both of NASCAR’s broadcast partners, Fox and NBC.
