A quick break from religion for a discussion of obscure current events. (Obscure events are the best kind for blogging, since no one’s sick of hearing about them yet.) The situation at hand: Subway currently has a contest where kids submit ideas for the name of a new Subway sandwich. The winner gets “athletic equipment” for his/her school. The rub? Homeschoolers are excluded.
This has caused a bunch of homeschoolers to write nasty letters to Subway, some even boycotting the company. I find this absurd for several reasons. One: the prize is equipment for a school. Homeschoolers not having a school, it is logical that they would be excluded. Would you enter a contest for a new car stereo if you did not own a car? Obviously not. The same would seem to apply here.
Some homeschooling parents have protested that had a homeschooler won the contest, the equipment could be donated to a local park. But even for PR alone, a whole schoolful of grateful schoolkids looks way better.
Two: Subway, as sole sponsor of the contest, has 100% control over the rules. You can’t enter if you’re under 18, or live outside the US. No one complains about that, though, do they?
Three: It’s just one contest. Don’t people have anything better to do than write letters to Subway because the company denied your homeschooled child of her right to name a sandwich? Maybe these parents should take a break from letter-writing and focus on actually homeschooling their children.
For the record, the official rules, and Subway’s apology, can be found here: http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/kids/contest.aspx
