Investing.com -- Subway suspended its marketing deal with Jared Fogle, hours after U.S. federal authorities seized electronic equipment from his Indiana home early on Tuesday morning in an investigation potentially linked to the arrest of the executive director of the weight-loss spokesman's eponymous foundation earlier this spring.
Agents from the FBI took computers from the Subway pitchman's home in Zionsville, Ind. on Tuesday shortly after arriving at his residence north of Indianapolis just after 6 a.m. Fogle, 37, began his relationship with Subway in January, 2000, after he shed more than 200 pounds by eschewing a diet comprised mostly of junk-food for a healthier nutritional plan primarily based around frequent consumption of Subway six-inch sandwiches. As a student at Indiana University in the late 1990s, Fogle ballooned to over 400 pounds before embarking on the ambitious diet.
"Subway and Jared Fogle have mutually agreed to suspend their relationship due to the current investigation," a Subway spokesperson said in a statement. "Jared continues to cooperate with authorities and he expects no actions to be forthcoming. Both Jared and Subway agree that this was the appropriate step to take."
In 2004, Fogle established the Jared Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to raising awareness for issues related to childhood obesity through educational programs provided to parents, schools and other community organizations. Earlier this spring, Russell Taylor, the director of the foundation, was arrested in Indiana on charges of child exploitation, possession of child pornography and voyeurism charges.
"We are shocked about the news and believe it is related to a prior investigation of a former Jared Foundation employee," Subway added. "We are very concerned and will be monitoring the situation closely. We don’t have any more details at this point.”
From a period of 1998 until 2011, Subway attributed approximately one-third of its sales to the impact of Fogle's advertising campaign.