Subway Crams a Ton of Sports Stars Into Its Meta 'Refresh' Campaign

Subway is hitting refresh on its menu, and its advertising, bringing in a load of star athletes for a series of comical, self-aware commercials—where the central conceit is that there’s too much to fit into any single spot.

Check out the three main :30s below, featuring Stephen Curry, Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe and Tom Brady. The campaign was crafted by dentsu mcgarrybowen, and the meta approach, while not on the level of something like Tide, is an improvement from Subway’s typical fare. Curry’s quip about whether Brady even eats bread, from the third spot, is a nice moment.

That’s Charles Barkley doing the VO. He has more of a chance to shine in a slew of :15s and :06s, which you can see in the longer YouTube playlist.

“We needed an idea that was big enough to tell the next chapter of Subway’s story. Not just now, but into the foreseeable future as the brand continues to push to be better and better every day,” says Matt Ian, chief creative officer of dentsu mcgarrybowen.

“The Subway ‘Eat Fresh Refresh’ campaign brings to life how much new we have on our menu and is a significant moment in the brand’s transformation journey. As such, one single creative execution or spokesperson wouldn’t have been enough,” says Carrie Walsh, chief marketing officer at Subway. “We developed a creative idea with a supporting cast of the biggest names in sports to share all of the great changes happening at Subway in a story that continues across multiple spots and formats.”