Jared Fogle's plea deal puts Subway back in spotlight

The Subway sandwich chain is working vigorously to emphasize that it has cut its ties to its longtime ad pitchman, Jared Fogle, whose plea deal for having sex with underage girls and possession of child pornography was announced on Wednesday. Yet the case, just as it did in July when federal agents raided Fogle's home, put Subway back in a spotlight.

The charges against Fogle call into question whether companies are taking big risks when they feature real people, whether they be average folks or celebrities, at the center of their ad campaigns.

Fogle, of Zionsville, Ind., appeared in court in Indianpolis Wednesday on charges of having had sex with minors and distributing and receiving child pornography. Under the deal, Fogle agrees to to a prison sentence of not less than five years,

When media reports about impending deal surfaces Tuesday night, Subway sent out a tweet: "We have already ended our relationship with Jared and have no further comment." It was a stronger statement than the tweet that the chain sent out on July 7 saying it had "agreed to suspend" its relationship with Fogle.

So far, Subway has endured the scandal without being terribly besmirched. But the next chapter, if it comes to pass, could be more difficult.

"Subway is probably going to catch another round of heat in social media. And it's still too early to tell, but unless the company knew something about Jared early on and did nothing, I suspect this will blow over," says Ken Wheaton, editor of Ad Age.

One crisis management public relations expert, Jonathan Bernstein, credits Subway for yanking their sponsorship of Fogle in July when search warrants were served by federal agents. But, he adds the sandwich chain would have been wiser to have parted ways when trouble first started surfacing last spring, when the head of Fogle's charitable arm, the Jared Foundation, was arrested in the case.

"They probably didn't do it soon enough," says Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management.

The case once again calls into question, too, the wisdom of having a real-life pitchman, whether a celebrity or an average person, who wind up embarrassing a company. Just as cyclist Lance Armstrong and chef Paula Deen ended up seeing their empires crumble over embarrassing disclosures, so, too, can the same trouble come to average people thrust into public roles.

"You never know if they are squeeky-clean today how they will be tomorrow," Bernstein says.

Many chains avoid the problem by creating charactors like McDonald's Ronald McDonald to represent the brand, or Progressive Insurance's eager saleswoman, Flo. Fogle, known to the world simply as Jared, was different. "He's just that normal, everyday kind of person in a world where we expect spokespeople to be celebrities," says Deb Hileman, president of the Institute for Crisis Management, who thinks Subway has made the right moves by communicating early in the case.

Before parting company with Subway, Fogle served as the face of the chain for many years to give it a healthy fast-food orientation. He was chosen after being profiled as having shed more than 200 pounds on a diet of some of Subway sandwiches' more healthy sandwich combinations.

Follow Chris Woodyard on Twitter at @ChrisWoodyard