SUBWAY x WE’RE NOT REALLY STRANGERS

Exploration of how Subway’s Foot Long Cookie can be a catalyst for connection.

SNAPSHOT

Role: Strategy, Concept Development, Graphic Design
Brand: Subway
Partner: We’re Not Really Strangers
Audience: Gen Z 18-22
Channels: Package Design, OOH, Social
Type: Spec Concept, Submission for Young Ones (The One Club)

CHALLENGE

The Footlong Cookie generated temporary buzz after a successful 2024 debut, but Subway needs to extend the product’s cultural relevance beyond launch, and give Gen Z a reason to visit beyond sandwiches.

AUDIENCE

Newly independent and financially cautious, Gen Z is navigating adulthood in real time. They are socially influenced, highly attuned to culture, digitally hyper-connected, yet physically disengaged.

aka CONNECTION CRAVERS

The INSIGHT

Gen Z spends less time fully present with one another in a digital world, leaving them craving meaningful connection. Meanwhile, Subway’s Footlong Cookie is the perfect size to split.

Sharing is built into the product. What if the cookie became the catalyst for conversation?

HUMAN PROBLEM

For Gen Z, meaningful connection rarely happens without intention and people are increasingly disconnected.

BRAND ADVANTAGE

Subway uniquely owns the footlong format: oversized and inherently shareable, playfully absurd and culturally recognizable.

SOLUTION

Transform the Footlong Cookie into a connection ritual.

CRUMBVERSATIONS

Meet in the Middle.

A limited-edition partnership with We’re Not Really Strangers that transforms the Footlong Cookie into a playable, shareable conversation experience.

HOW IT COMES TO LIFE

  • Each Footlong Cookie includes a redesigned tray and a limited-edition Subway x We’re Not Really Strangers card pack, transforming the dessert into a playable, collectible ritual. By embedding conversation into the packaging, Subway turns a novelty item into a meaningful shared experience.

    As a pair eats their way through the cookie, they’re invited to answer the prompts in the card pack, corresponding with the numbered tray.

  • Billboards in college towns and urban centers feature the campaign: a visual approach with the goal of capturing the public eye, reinforcing the campaign’s message of shared experience, and inviting Gen Z to split a Footlong Cookie with someone special.

  • Crumbversations unfolds on TikTok and Instagram through authentic, shareable moments of friends breaking the Footlong Cookie and answering conversation prompts. Designed to feel native and unscripted, the content encourages organic participation under #Crumbversations and positions the cookie as a catalyst for connection.

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