Subway sandwich shop: “No home schools will be accepted.” Update: Parent posts company reply

By Michelle Malkin  •  May 25, 2008 08:17 AM

The Subway sandwich corporation is holding a story-writing contest for kids. You can win athletic equipment, gift baskets, or sandwich shop cash cards.

Except if you’re a homeschooled student in the “Untied (sic) States.”

Perhaps they fear the homeschooled students will call attention to all their spelling errors. Looks like the Subway marketing department ought to hire a few homeschoolers to help them out.

More here.

I vote for this essay. Touché.

***

Update 5/26: A homeschooling parent received a response from the Subway sponsor of the contest:

Dear Christine,

We are deeply sorry that the Subway contest has offended you and thank you for voicing your concern. Our intention was never to make independent schooled children feel discriminated against or excluded from this specific promotion. Throughout the course of the year Scholastic runs a number of contests and sweepstakes that are open to all teachers and students. The eligibility of this contest in particular was solely put in place to award a large group of children with the grand prize of $5,000 worth of athletic equipment. We do however understand how home-schooled children could benefit from this type of prizing and will make sure eligibility is open to everyone in future promotions.

To show our gratitude for bringing this matter to our attention, please send us the ages of your children and your address and we would be happy to send you a complimentary book to share with them. We truly appreciate your feedback and will make sure a similar situation does not happen again.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me directly.

Best Regards,

Samantha Calastro

Scholastic Parent & Child

Good.

Posted in: Education

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Trackbacks

  1. How NOT to Hold a Contest at Your Store | Musings From a Catholic Bookstore
  2. Subway = “Wrong Way” On Contest Homeschool Ban? » OpinionBug.com
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  4. Socialist “Curriculum” cannot penetrate home schools…therefore, they must be outlawed. (Updated)
  5. Wizbang
  6. Take That! | A South Dakota Moderate
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  8. The Conservative Obsession With Homeschooling « An Army of Principles
  9. Dear Subway, : Adam Lawson
  10. Subway sandwiches HATES home schoolers! | The TIW Blog
  11. No Home Schoolers need apply - I don’t like Subway anyway | Scott's Morning Brew
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  14. HERP&ES » Blog Archive » OH, GOD!
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  16. Quiznos’ Subs are Tastier Anyhow | The Sundries Shack
  17. HOMESCHOOL HATRED « Texas Hold ‘Em Blogger
  18. Murdoc Online
  19. Subway Homeschool Discrimination Around the Web « One Mom
  20. Subway to Home Schooled Kids: Get Lost | So Good
  21. Let’s Look at Discrimination « The Thinker

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Comments


  1. #333423
    On May 27th, 2008 at 8:41 am, undrseige247 said:

    I still think I make a better sandich at home. ;)

  2. #333430
    On May 27th, 2008 at 8:50 am, abstractmind said:

    I would venture, after reading this, that Subway could have done something a bit better, but…

    Since they are a business, they do have the right to hold promotions and set the rules for it. While they should include homeschools regardless (and i’m not defending the position they shouldnt), it is also their right to lay down rules for promotions as they see fit. I dont think it would be hard to set the rules to accomodate homeschooled children, and Subway should have adjusted this just a bit.

    I could be off, but thats how it comes across to me.

  3. #333487
    On May 27th, 2008 at 9:48 am, locomotivebreath1901 said:

    Golly.

    Wouldn’t the subway suits be classified as ‘hateful, intolerant bigots’ if those same children had a PC label like ‘under privileged’ or ‘alternative lifestyle’?

    I’ve always wondered who exactly, in the leftist utopian world of political correctness, decides which people belong to the privileged class, and who doesn’t.

  4. #333499
    On May 27th, 2008 at 9:57 am, PirateLady said:

    Not Impressed at all especially since the individual who handles our Scholastic book purchases for my HS group told us that Scholastic was in the process of phasing out HS group book purchases.

    For Scholastic to offer a book to the offended was cheap & silly. Don’t they know that most HS families have a huge LIBRARY at home? It was a very weak gesture.

    If a HS student won the contest then the 50+ families I know who do HS would have wanted to give that playground to the local community. Perhaps Scholastic just didn’t want it to go to a church org.?

    Again – just not impressed with the offer of a book.

    ZORRO – I think that Mr. Duecy only reads MM & LGF for his show prep since he’s always a day late on the news! Everything he & they speak about has already been covered in the Blog world. I know not everyone reads political Blogs everyday but you think he could plug them every once or so….

    PEACE

  5. #333541
    On May 27th, 2008 at 10:19 am, Yashmak said:

    Subway’s response seems very reasonable.

  6. #333543
    On May 27th, 2008 at 10:21 am, Hexadecimal said:

    On May 26th, 2008 at 5:12 pm, grumbles said:

    Of course my priest had to demonstrate putting a condom on a banana in front of an entire classroom.

    If this was a Catholic school (I’m incredulous), your “priest” didn’t have to do anything of the sort, since condom use is proscribed as artificial birth control by the Catholic Church.

    Then again, purported “Catholic” educators (especially at the university level), especially the Jesuits, seem to not give a whit about Catholic moral instruction.

    I imagine when home schooled you could get one on one instruction from your mother.

    That was a real mature parting shot. It is, and should be one’s parents who impart their values and guidance as their kids learn about sex. It shouldn’t be left to relative strangers with their own (often radically different) agendas and values (or in some cases, lack of).

  7. #333699
    On May 27th, 2008 at 11:50 am, kbiel said:

    We do however understand how home-schooled children could benefit from this type of prizing and…

    It looks like Subway could use a little homeschooling itself. While prizing is a word, it doesn’t mean what they think it means. Perhaps it has another meaning in the “Untied States”, wherever that is.

  8. #333748
    On May 27th, 2008 at 12:16 pm, Kendra said:

    Suggesting possible ACLU involvement is non sequitur as there are no public funds (i.e. tax dollars) involved in the awarding of the prizes, Subway being a private corporation.

    It’s just one of the potential scenarios. Something I was trying to point out if Subway had attempted to put homeschoolers on different footing than the rest in the contest. It doesn’t matter who it is, put contest entries on different footings and you have the potential for someone to scream “lawsuit” over it in today’s sue-happy environment. There are legalities that any contest like this has to adhere to.

    And I have to say, as a Michelle Malkin reader who usually agrees with her, I’m a bit disappointed that she failed to mention the grand prize at all. It was too key to omit and did color the tone of the post by suggesting, by the omission, that Subway simply has it in for homeschoolers rather than the fact that the grand prize would have been more difficult to award by including homeschoolers.

  9. #334058
    On May 27th, 2008 at 4:29 pm, mjtyson said:

    I agree that Subway is a private company and can do what they want. That’s basic to our system.

    I’m more peeved that they discriminate against HSing kids AND have typos in their info about the contest. My goodness. If you’re going to conduct an academic contest, you should make sure your Ps & Qs are in order.

    //spell-checking right now…//

  10. #334173
    On May 27th, 2008 at 6:43 pm, Wayfaring Stranger said:

    …If you’re going to conduct an academic contest, you should make sure your Ps & Qs are in order.

    I have concluded that it is a waste of time attempting to correct the many spelling and grammatical errors that permeate the various media that are a part of our lives. Most such attempts, however politic, have been dismissed by the guilty parties.

    My eldest – essentially homeschooled since birth ;) – would point out not only typos, but grammatical errors in newspapers (no surprise there) and even school text books. It was he who pointed out the sign at a local store that declared that those parked there illegally would be toed. That was nearly twenty years ago, yet that sign remains to this day, uncorrected by the owner. Sigh.

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