Subway's $5 footlong price attack in 2008 was great for Subway and fatal for Quiznos, which had no real edge to defend.

• Subway rolled out a flat $5 footlong in 2008 and dared Quiznos to match it.
• Quiznos sold itself as the premium, toasted sandwich — a gimmick Subway copied simply by buying toasters.
• Once both chains toasted, the only thing left to compete on was price, and Quiznos could not go that low.
• Premium positioning is worthless when a rival can copy it with a piece of equipment.

Outlook: The same value-war playbook still decides fast-food winners, and chains without a cost advantage remain the ones that break first.