When the company's spokesperson, "The Subway Guy”, had his home raided by the

FBI as part of an ongoing child pornography investigation, Subway was forced to deal with a
Public Relations issue. According to  Avery et al. (2023), a PR crisis occurs when a bad
incident or review about a company acquires traction in the media. It can be connected to
unsafe business practices, a client accident at your location, or a personnel-related internal
problem. Although Fogle has not been charged with any crimes, the sandwich chain's
spokesperson is no longer Fogle after the two parties mutually agreed to cease their
marketing collaboration. The suspension of Fogle is expected. When a mistake exposes a
brand to negative news, brands frequently oust the representative. According to McPherson
(2015), by definition, a crisis is any event that endangers a company's integrity or reputation
and is typically sparked by unfavourable media attention. 

However, the speed with which everything happened in the Jared Fogle event created
a precedent. Over the course of only one working day, Fogle was charged with PR rapid
reaction, put on trial, and found guilty. A corporation in trouble with public relations once
had the "luxury" of implementing its crisis strategy all day long. Deadlines for print and
television in the late afternoon would give enough time to put together a crisis team, select a
spokesman, review and modify corporate policy, consult with legal counsel, anticipate
difficult inquiries, and finally draft a statement for publication.

According to (Ryan, 1999), Currently, social media has reversed the crisis
communication strategy. Within an hour of the crisis starting, a timely, prepared statement is
anticipated. The media and citizen journalists are not all sitting on their collective hands
waiting for that prepared statement, which will just increase the chaos of the crisis
management process. In order to fill the gap in the news cycle with fresh perspectives and
negative hashtags for the topic, company websites and social media feeds are actively
scanned for any incriminating or embarrassing information. This particular dilemma first
surfaced back in April when Fogle's name or that of his Jared organisation was connected to
Russell Taylor, the director of the organisation, being detained on suspicion of child
pornography. A 30-second film called "Jared's Journey" was being sent out by Subway as
part of their "Jared's Journey" effort to connect with millennials on social media when the
arrest occurred. The arrest was not a major national news event, and Subway was not
compelled to change the campaign's direction. However, it did serve as the catalyst for the
uproar that followed the raid on Fogle's house. Now that Fogle had admitted to selling porn
during his time in college, the two stories had become strangely intertwined.

In times of crisis, the public, the media, and everyone else expects rapid responses.
Delaying a response may result in an unfavourable reaction from the internet community. An
urgent message risks causing another negative development in the story, and a misleading or
incomplete statement can further impair one's reputation. There is little space for error in
terms of public relations. As proven by the Subway example, corporate officials frequently
obtain real-time knowledge from the same sources as the general public, such as social
media. According to  (Mudd, 2015) research, Subway established its crisis communication
plan on July 7, 2015, in response to a series of events. The FBI, Indiana State Police, and the
US Postal Inspector executed a search warrant at Jared Fogle's home in Zionsville, Indiana,
around 6:00 a.m. Fox59 Indianapolis News reported on the dawn raid at 8:39 a.m., and
immediately after, at 8:40 a.m., they tweeted about it. By 10:30 a.m., prominent news
organisations had begun to share the story on social media, with over 150 pieces covering the
raid.
 Subway swiftly removed all references to Fogle from its website and social media
platforms around midday. At 12:24 p.m., the Subway spokesperson expressed shock and
concern in a statement, suggesting a possible connection to a previous investigation involving
a former Jared Foundation employee but provided no other specifics. Subway and Jared
Fogle had shut off communication by 5:18 p.m. owing to the ongoing investigation, both
opting to put their relationship on pause. They stated that Jared expected no action to be taken
and that he would continue to cooperate with authorities, emphasising that this was the proper
course of action. As a result, by 5:30 p.m., Jared Fogle and the hashtag #JaredFogle has
become a hot topic on social media. 

The same speed that sparked the crisis’s rapid escalation also contributes to its
distinctiveness. Two days have passed since the Fogle story was in the news, but it is still
trending on social media. The media has already moved on to the next big issue because news
feeds are updated and changed every second. As the public will allow Subway some
breathing room as everyone waits for the results of the inquiry, which is anticipated to take a
few weeks to complete, the story did not disappear. Subway did, however, lose a seasoned
spokeswoman in the interim. However, they acquired some more time to plan a fresh
advertising campaign and hire a new spokesperson when, and if, the news about Fogle
worsens.