Georgia Subway Faces Backlash for Insensitive Sign Mocking Tragic Submersible Accident

Knowledge Nuggets:

• A Subway restaurant in Rincon, Georgia, displayed a sign saying “Our subs don’t implode,” making light of the recent OceanGate Titan submersible accident which resulted in the deaths of all five passengers onboard.
• The sign sparked significant backlash, with many deeming it to be in poor taste and disrespectful.
• Subway has confirmed that the sign was real and has since been removed, stating such comments have “no place in our business.”

The loss of the OceanGate Titan submersible on June 18, which resulted in the death of all five passengers on board, sparked a wave of sympathy and concern.

However, it seems that not all responses were respectful.

An ill-conceived sign placed outside a Subway restaurant in Rincon, Georgia, has caused a storm of outrage.

The OceanGate Titan suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” leading to a complete loss of communication with the ship.

The remains of the craft were found 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic, according to U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger.

Human remains were reportedly also recovered and brought back to land last week.

In the wake of this tragedy, online memes circulated, poking fun at the event, a grim example of internet humor.

One of these memes found its way off the internet and into the real world, courtesy of a local Subway restaurant.

The sign outside the store on Highway 21 read, “Our subs don’t implode.”

The insensitivity of the joke attracted a lot of attention.

Local resident Timothy Mauck, who photographed the sign before it was removed, told USA Today, “I’m sure it would be disrespectful to the family, you know what I mean? … It was a very uncalled for kind of thing because that’s a place of business, and for one of their employees to put that up on their sign that only lets everybody know that the situation is a joke.”

The company swiftly acted on the backlash.

A Subway spokesman told Fox Business, “We have been in contact with the franchise about this matter and made it clear that this kind of comment has no place in our business. The sign has since been removed.”

This isn’t Subway’s first PR debacle.

The fast-food chain faced a major crisis in 2015 when their former spokesman Jared Fogle was arrested and found guilty of child pornography possession and traveling across state lines to have sex with minors.

Source