Footlong is a trademarked brand, not a measurement!

Subway has been dealing with fallout from a viral photo of an 11-inch "footlong" sub for nearly a week now.

It started with angry customers lashing out on social media and folks joked around a lot about the missing inch.

But now, Subway is facing a pair of lawsuits because of its too-short sandwiches.

The international sandwich chain has responded to the kerfuffle and it seems to be taking it really seriously.

Here's the statement it gave The Chicago Tribune:

"We have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve.

Our commitment remains steadfast to ensure that every Subway Footlong sandwich is 12 inches at each location worldwide."

It's a step for Subway.

The initial statement given by Subway Australia didn't make any promises like that. It said:

"With regards to the size of the bread and calling it a footlong, "SUBWAY FOOTLONG" is a registered trademark as a descriptive name for the sub sold in Subway Restaurants and not intended to be a measurement of length."