Still reeling from Jared Fogle scandal, Subway lures marketing all-star out of retirement

MILFORD, Conn., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Months after cutting ties to spokesman Jared Fogle amid child pornography and pedophilia charges, sandwich chain Subway on Thursday announced it has coaxed a marketing hall of famer out of retirement.

The chain said Joseph Tripodi will take over as its Chief Marketing Officer following the departure of Tony Pace, who left the company two months ago to start a marketing company.

Despite the serious nature of the Fogle scandal, Tripodi expressed excitement at the prospect of beefing up the 50-year-old sandwich chain's brand.

"I'm thrilled to join Subway at this exciting time in the brand's history," Tripodi said in a statement. "As consumers' tastes evolve, I want to build on Subway's legacy of innovation to ensure we are always leading in our marketing, product offerings and consumer engagement strategies."

An industry all-star, Tripodi was chief marketer for Coca-Cola between 2007 and 2015, where he conceived the bottler's successful "Open Happiness" and "Share a Coke" campaigns and helped keep Coca-Cola atop Interbrand's Most Valuable Global Brand List. Coca-Cola topped Interbrand's ranking for the first six years of Tripodi's tenure before falling behind Apple and Google in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Photo by Jannoon028/Shutterstock

Tripodi, 60, who was inducted into the American Marketing Association Hall of Fame last year, brings a distinguished resume to Subway after working for Coca-Cola, Allstate, MasterCard, Seagram's and the Bank of New York.

"Joe has successfully led our company's worldwide marketing and commercial organization, and played a vital role in building and leveraging our marketing capabilities and talent around the globe," Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent said last year. "I want to thank Joe for his leadership, dedication and many contributions to our business and wish him and his family much happiness in his retirement."

Tripodi's retirement lasted all of 10 months. He will now run Subway's global marketing, corporate social responsibility, product quality and food safety, public relations and research, AdWeek reported. He has a master's degree from the London School of Economics and a bachelor's in economics from Harvard.

Tripodi's hire is Subway's first major marketing decision since the dismissal of Fogle, who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to child sex charges.

The company has also rehired former advertising executive Chris Carroll and contracted a new creative agency to help rehabilitate Subway's public image.