Apparently, the sword wielded by cancel culturists cuts both ways. For years, the blade has been used — sometimes literally — to cut off the heads of great Americans like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Now it is in the hands of Subway restaurant franchisees and their customers, who are demanding that the parent company pull ads featuring “unAmerican” soccer star Megan Rapinoe.
As the New York Post reports:
The 36-year-old, purple-haired soccer star … began a stint as a pitchwoman for the fast-food giant this spring.
In one spot, Rapinoe — who has been a vocal proponent of equal rights and equal pay for women — knocks a burrito out of a guy’s hands by kicking a soccer ball at him.
https://youtu.be/e5N17IfqhXQ
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But taking a knee ahead of a match in which Team USA came away with a third-best bronze was too much for Subway franchisees and some their customers to swallow.
Late last month on a discussion forum hosted by the North American Association of Subway Franchisees, a Wisconsin store operator posted a picture of a hand-scrawled note from an irate customer taped to the front door of his shop.
“Boycott Subway until Subway fires the anti-American … Megan Rapinoe, the creep who kneels for our beloved National Anthem!” the note read.
“The ad should be pulled and done with,” the franchisee wrote of the Rapinoe spot. “It gets tiring apologizing.”
According to The Hill, another franchisee wrote at the forum, “By knowingly hiring a flashpoint personality to represent the brand with our money, the franchisor has failed.”
Subway, at least for the time being, appears to be standing pat.
The sandwich chain is no stranger to canceling celebrity spokespersons. In 2015, the company parted ways with long-time spokesman Jared Fogle after it was revealed that he paid a 16-year-old for sex and pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
