While thousands flocked to their local Jimmy John’s restaurants to partake in the restaurant’s first “Customer Appreciation Day,” featuring $1 subs, the people who still remember the grisly photographs of owner Jimmy John Liautaud posing with his “kills” have been silenced at its Facebook page.
A Google search reveals that hundreds of outlets are providing Jimmy John’s with free advertising for its events today, while none have mentioned Liautaud’s dreadful record as a human being. Liautaud confirmed that he was a big game hunter in a Chicago Tribune interview in late 2015.
Those who are considering spending their lunch or dinner hour at Jimmy John’s should be aware that in the past several years, Jimmy John’s and/or its owner, Liautaud, have been implicated in forcing workers to sign non-compete agreements that keep them from searching for work close to Jimmy John’s; donating money to Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio; stealing money from employees in systematic wage theft; and fighting to keep the Affordable Care Act from passing, after declaring that he would cut his workers' hours in order to keep them from earning health insurance benefits.
Attempts to bring up Liautaud’s participation in game hunting brought deletion of comments by Jimmy John's Facebook team within four minutes of posting, while hundreds of comments lauding Liautaud for his one-dollar special, or from those asking if their local franchise was participating, were not only allowed to stand, but were responded to by staff members.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune late in 2015, Liautaud admitted to being a big game hunter, but argued that he hadn’t hunted in Africa in over ten years, a fact seemingly contradicted by the presence of photos copyrighted in 2010, purportedly of a safari in 2010, which show Liautaud showing off his "hunting" of an elephant and a leopard.
When he was asked about the photos, Liautaud welled up with tears. "I choose to hunt and fish. Everything I've done has been totally legal," he said. "And the meat has been eaten, if not by me than by someone I'm with."
The disposal of that "meat" may be something for potential customers to think about today as they line up for cheap food.
