The United States Women’s National Soccer Team has been in the news for a variety of reasons over the last several years. One of the team’s stars, Megan Rapinoe, has been featured in a wide variety of ads, including for Subway. She was recently featured in a Subway ad alongside other star athletes like Serena Williams and Steph Curry. Rapinoe is far from universally liked, however, and one Subway franchise operator is asking the company to remove her from their ads. The reason the owner cites is that her presence in Subway ads is driving away too many customers that disagree strongly with Rapinoe’s politics.
Rapinoe has been a household name in the US ever since the Women’s National Team won the World Cup back in 2019. She won the hearts of many thanks to her frequent feuds with then-president Donald Trump. Her purple hair and notably liberal politics made her a star for many and alienated many others. In the Tokyo Olympic games this year she made headlines once again for taking a knee during the national anthem before the Unites States’ victory in the bronze metal soccer match. Following the match, Donald Trump once again took aim at the US National Team, releasing a statement saying that the team had failed to win gold because of its politics. He singled out the “purple-haired girl” as playing “terrible.” This incident reignited the very public feud between the two stretching back to Rapinoe’s refusal to visit the White House following her team’s World Cup victory in 2019.
Many Americans appreciate Rapinoe’s politics, but there is a large group of Americans who can’t stand her. Many Trump supporters across the country have refused to eat at Subway because of Rapinoe’s endorsement deal with the company. One shop owner in Wisconsin even arrived at his store one morning to find a hand-written note on his door asking everyone to boycott Subway until Rapinoe’s endorsement deal is terminated. The letter demanded that the “anti-American POS” be fired in order to “take America back from the godless reprobates.” This particular shop owner wants the ads removed simply because he is tired of dealing with all of the flak he is receiving. Subway functions by selling franchises, which pay back some of their revenue to Subway’s national advertisement. Franchise owners do not have any actual say on the content of those ads, however. Subway is in quite a pickle, however, because many franchisees are calling the national office and demanding that the ads be taken down. The future of the ads is uncertain at this point. What is clear, though, is that Rapinoe’s presence in recent Subway ads has caused many headaches for Subway franchise owners across the United States. Scenes and sentiments like those found in Wisconsin are playing out all across the country.
