Subway Rolled Out Its Wildest Idea Yet, and People Love It So Much It Instantly Became a Problem

On the one hand, when you come up with an idea for a new product, it’s only natural that you would want everyone to love it. If you’re going to put effort into something, you want it to be worth your while. Of course, sometimes good ideas take on a life of their own and exceed what any reasonable product manager might expect. 

That’s basically the problem facing Subway right now. The company–known for its footlong subs–announced in December that it was introducing a footlong cookie for International Cookie Day. Then, the cookies became a permanent part of the menu last month, and they’re a hit. 

I think we can all agree that foot-long cookies are a wild idea. Subway already sold cookies as a desert item, but this is taking that to the extreme. Customers, however, seem to be in love with the idea.

The problem is that they’re such a hit that Subway restaurants can’t keep up with the demand. Along with a footlong Cinnabon Churro and footlong Auntie Ann’s Pretzel, the footlong cookies are known as Subway Sidekicks, and together they sold 3.5 million units in just the first two weeks on the menu. 

Demand for the cookies has become enough of a problem that Subway has stopped selling the cookies in its app. You can still place your lunch order online, but you can’t order one of the footlong cookies. 

I suppose this is the best kind of problem to have, though it is still a problem. Subway doesn’t want to disappoint its customers, which is what happens when they want to buy a footlong cookie, only to find out their local restaurant is out of stock. 

That’s the problem with having a great idea–you don’t always know how well it will go over until you release it into the wild. And, I think we can all agree that a foot-long cookie is kind of wild. It’s not until customers decide what they think that you really know whether or not you have a hit. 

There’s a non-zero amount of luck involved, which makes it hard to plan. Still, Subway doesn’t want to let its customers down. If, every time you try to buy something, it’s out of stock, eventually, you stop trying. Eventually, you just move on to something else. That’s a dangerous place for any company to be. 

In that light, it makes sense that Subway is trying to moderate demand by not making the cookies available in its app, or through third-party services like DoorDash. You can, however, still order the other Sidekick items. 

Then again, there’s an upside to this, which is that if you’ve created this much demand for a product, you’re probably doing something right. The company has been working hard over the past few years to transform its business in the face of stiff competition. The Sidekicks are just the latest example of its effort to win over customers with new menu items.

The company even pointed to the success in a press release about its financial results from 2023:

“Sidekicks are a big hit with guests and the latest proof that Subway is a remarkably different brand than it was when we began our transformation journey three years ago — and we’re not slowing down,” Subway CEO, John Chidsey said in a statement.

There’s an obvious lesson here for every brand: delighting your customers means not just creating products they love, but also making it so they can actually buy them from you. If you make something everyone loves but can’t get, that can increase demand in the short term, but eventually, they end up disappointed. Your job is simple: make sure that never happens.