 This is a historic day for Greendale. This state-of-the-art sandwichery in our cafetorium represents the first step into the new millennium.
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| — Dean Pelton |
Subway is a popular fast food restaurant chain established in 1965. The eatery is well known for selling its line of submarine sandwiches and healthy alternative food choices in comparison to its competing fast food rivals. In 2012, the Subway franchise opened up a shop on the Greendale campus inside the cafeteria. Due to an unfortunate incident at school it was forced to close down. The franchise would later returned with an offer for Greendale's school board. Its first appearance was in the Season Three episode "Digital Exploration of Interior Design".
History
Season Three
In the study group's third year at Greendale together, then campus security guard Ben Chang accidentally burned down the Hot & Brown coffee shop ("Competitive Ecology"). The space in the cafeteria remained vacant for months until the school board ended up selling the space to the 'Subway corporation instead ("Contemporary Impressionists"). Not long afterwards, the Subway eatery opened up with much fanfare and hoopla ("Digital Exploration of Interior Design"). Greendale bylaws stated that a student must own 51% of any business operating on campus. In order to conform, Subway enrolled an employee at school. He was a Corpohummanoid named after the company.
The employee was basically an indentured servant who was hired to play the role of corporate spokesman 24/7 until his contract expired. Upset that their proposed shop was rejected in favor of Subway (the restaurant), Shirley and Pierce targeted Subway (the student) in order to sabotage it. They did this by taking advantage of the mutual attraction between Britta and "Subway". Using a hidden microphone, they managed to record them engaging in salacious activities. They presented the tape to his superior, a Subway rep who was appalled by a specific sexual act which violated the decency terms of his contract. Their plan worked and "Subway" was immediately fired, striped of his title and taken away by men in black. However, the victory was short lived as he was quickly replaced with another Corpohummannoid.
A few weeks later, the campus was shocked by the sudden accidental death of Star-Burns ("Course Listing Unavailable"). A riot then broke out and the students started trashing everything in sight. The Subway shop was one of the first casualties as Vicki picked up a trash can and threw it through a glass counter top. Ben Chang and his security force, The Changlourious Basterds, to get the situation under control further escalated the violence. The Subway sandwich shop was completely destroyed. When the Subway corporation learned about this they decided to pull the franchise out of the school. The space was vacant again until the middle of summer. The Greendale school board decided to offer the space to Shirley and Pierce ("Introduction to Finality").
Season Five
In the first year of the Save Greendale Committee, the group did its job well and greatly improved campus life. An insurance liability appraiser hired by the city evaluated the school and found it to be a valuable property asset. School board members Carl Bladt and Richie Countee were eager to put the school for sale. The Subway franchise put in the top bid and planned on turning it into a Sandwich institute. The Subway rep returned and oversaw the conversion of the campus. Richie and Carl showed him his new office and he also offered a Jeff a job as the new Sandwich Law professor ("Basic Story"). Subway employees also assisted Richie and Carl when it was learned the Save Greendale Committee was trying to stop the deal.
A large press conference was held in the Cafeteria to officially sign Greendake over Subway. Before it could be made official the Save Greendale Committee interfered. They pointed out a legal contract which stated that any change in the schools curriculum had to be approved by the founder Russell Borchert. They then produced the long lost founder whose repulsive appearance nauseated those in attendance. The Subway rep immediately called off the merger unwilling to work with Borchert and get sucked into a conflict the City and school board were having. He and the rest of the Subway employees quickly left and the deal was terminated. An outraged Richie and Carl fumed as the Save Greendale Committee and the rest of the student body celebrated ("Basic Sandwich").
Subway employees
Product placement
In 2007 Subway began doing product placement's on NBC's spy comedy "Chuck". They later became instrumental in securing the show further seasons as they began heavily investing in the show. The synergy became apparent as Subway and its products began to make more appearances and even some episode titles would contain references to the franchise ("Chuck versus the Subway"). At the 2012 ComicCon, "Community" Creator Dan Harmon discussed Subway's involvement in Season Three and the reasons which led to the franchise's appearance on the show.