I have trouble even stomaching the smell of Subway outlets, but I have to hand it to the folks at the mega-chain: Corned-beef Reubens really are the best kind of Reubens. (If only somebody would break it to them about the grilled rye bread.)
I'm hoping the ubiquitous eatery follows up the Corned Beef Reuben with something equally distinctive: perhaps a roast-beef French dip, or a bacon BLT, or even a peanut-butter-and-jelly peanut butter and jelly.
14 comments:
Wiki says it can also be made with pastrami.
Though this reminds me of all those talking heads discussing Hillary's "3 a.m. in the morning" ad.
Fast food restaurants cannot bear a menu item without an adjective, redundant or not. Until this one, my favorite was Taco Bell's "carne asada" steak.
Yeah, like a martini can also be made with vodka. But then it's a vodka martini.
Gregg Easterbrook noted a few years ago that "chai tea latte," frequently seen on coffee shop menus, could also be expressed "tea-with-milk tea with milk."
Here's another from the department of redundancy department: KFC's smoky chipotle. Chipotle is smoked jalapeno, so it's saying smoky smoky jalapeno.
I agree. There are also a few variations of vegetarian Reuben, but those are "vegetarian Reubens."
I also agree regarding the stink of Subway restaurants. How can anyone make the baking of bread smell bad? But they manage to. I walk past a Subway kiosk every night at the bus terminus and the baking smells like rancid margarine. Bleh!
What about Lean Cuisine's "panini sandwiches"?
I guess my only comment would be that Subway restaurants do not usually carry corned beef. A sign advertising Reuben at such an establishment may have people believing it is made with another product, especially considering they just recently had a pastrami sandwich available. As "tahoe editor" said, a Reuben can be made with that particular meat, as well as turkey in many areas.
Another good one from Taco Bell is its cheesy queso crunch wrap.
That would be the peanut-butter-and-jelly PB&J, though, wouldn't it?
And, the people eating at a Subway would think a Rueben was some sort of sandwich named after a celebrity from American Idol, I'd bet.
There's a marketing value that's not being appreciated here. Besides, a frankfurter is a hot dog; corned beef isn't a Reuben.
Terms can overlap, but for right-thinking people frankfurter + bun = hot dog. Corned beef + Swiss cheese + sauerkraut + thousand-island dressing + grilled rye bread = Reuben.
I'm sure Subway has many potential customers who couldn't complete that equation. That doesn't mean they're not right-thinking. There's marketing value here, like successful movie titles having three words. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in copyediting philosophy; maximizing sandwich sales is more important to Subway than a quasi-redundancy "gotcha."
But of course. I'm taking potshots from my own bunker here, not offering my services as a corporate consultant to that despicable outfit.
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