Ending their brief relationship of less than a year, Subway has cut ties with its creative ad agency, Fallon Worldwide, and will launch a review for a new agency by July.
Meanwhile, the Subway account, estimated at $220 million, will be temporarily handled by McCarthy Mambro Bertino, a Boston-based agency that had previously worked with the sandwich shop to develop creative.
Fallon was hired last July after a two-month review that included Deutsch; Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; and Wieden & Kennedy.
“I think the main reason for the split is that, the head of Fallon put it best—we just didn’t click altogether,” said Subway spokesperson Kevin Kane. “Fallon does great stuff and our sales had actually increased during their advertising, but we just weren’t clicking.”
Fallon, a unit of Publicis, was responsible for developing the creative behind the “It’s OK, I had Subway” ads. The quirky ads targeted health-conscious consumers, however they were poorly received and considered hard to understand by both consumers and Milford, CT-based Subway execs.
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