Originally posted on http://digitaldiatribes.wordpress.com on May 25, 2008.
WorldNetDaily has this story on a new Subway contest.
The contest rules are shown there, with the following note:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Contest is open only to legal residents of the Untied (sic) States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted. emphasis mine
Now, keeping in mind that this is a Scholastic-directed contest where the winner gets equipment for their school (I assume this is why the exclusion is in there. As the linked article points out, anyone with a few brain cells could have figured out a way to include homeschoolers and have the donation go to a park or a school of their choice, perhaps with some little equipment/books reward for the homeschool or something. It’s not rocket science..) you will notice the incorrectly spelled “united.” The article also posts the grand prize winner’s take: a Scholastic gift “bastket.”
Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.
Well, I just sent a little note of my own to Subway. I didn’t keep a copy of my text, but it went something like this:
“I just heard about your essay contest. I find it interesting that you chose to exclude homeschoolers. I would like to thank you for this decision. As a homeschooling father of 6 (soon to be 7) we have a lot of potential future customers. We have too many dining choices, and we are always looking for ways to narrow our choice down. Thank you for the opportunity to eliminate your business from our list. After all, I am assuming that since we are not welcome to participate in your little contest, then we are not welcome to patronize your business.
Oh, and pass on my best to your public relations/marketing personnel. They are doing a bang-up job. I’m sure they are all MBA’s.”
Geniuses.
UPDATE: While predictable that damage control was likely on the way, credit also needs to be given where it is due. At least one homeschooler received a pretty nice reply from Scholastic at this forum.. The company not only apologized, but promised to include homeschoolers in future promotions and offered to send some books to the family. Now, they may not make the same offer to everyone, but still this is a little meatier than a “oh, yeah… we’re sorry.” Take it for what you will. If and when I receive my own response I will post it.
Update #2: I had originally posted the update above as Subway responding. Thanks to a comment that corrected that, we are still on the official “Subway response” watch…
Update #3: Well, as with many things, what started out as a heated discussion on the blogosphere has now become a little bit more pronounced. I could list all the columnists who are picking up the mantle on this, but just in the last few hours I’ve also received two e-mails addressing it. One is from the American Family Association and the other from the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. I’m sure that if I dig, I can find more. My purpose here isn’t to list every source, but to suggest that the response to Subway has only just begun. If I were a Subway P.R. guy, I’d be writing that this was a huge “gaff.”
Update #4:It would appear that Scholastic has talked to Subway management, because what was the Scholastic Apology has now been re-worded and, according to American Family Association’s Second Subway Action Alert, includes Subway in the apology. So, the two companies have now spoken and have officially recognized their error and have promised to not let it happen again. Take from that what you will, but it’s better than a hunkered-down snubbing. I’m sure it didn’t hurt matters that Scholastic has a lot to lose, and seemed prepared to throw Subway under the bus on this one.
