Subway Finds a Railroad Tie-In

McDonald’s scored big this summer with its promotional tie-ins to Disney’s “Inspector Gadget” and “Tarzan” films. In contrast, Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut did only so-so when the three Tricon-owned chains teamed up with the new “Star Wars” film.

Now Subway, the submarine sandwich chain with 13,000 stores in the United States and Canada, has announced it is reentering the summer movie promotion sweepstakes for the first time since 1993, when it teamed with the film “The Coneheads,” a feature-length version of a popular “Saturday Night Live” skit.

The sandwich chain, which has 108 locations in Orange County and 324 in Los Angeles County, has signed an agreement with Destination Films for a promotional tie-in with the movie “Thomas and the Magic Railroad.”

As part of the seven-week promotion, items from the film will be distributed in a special kid’s meal pack.

Since 1993, Subway has participated in cross-promotions with films during seasons that are less competitive than the summer, when movie studios and the fast-food industry pull out all the stops. Subway teamed in December 1995 with the box office smash “The Santa Clause” starring Tim Allen. Earlier this year, the chain had a promotion featuring the animated film “The King and I.”

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Greg Hernandez covers the restaurant industry for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5989 and at [email protected].