Is there any better indicator of a bad economy than companies lowering their prices? Well according to Subway and Quiznos (and a few others) it's the new 'modus operandi' in our bleak market.

Recent spots by both companies hoc $5 sandwiches. Subway's "$5-Footlong" tune is annoyingly catchy - as is the accompanying visual barf-bag music-video-esque thingy-bob. The whole thing must have cost them a fortune, but for $5 eats, it's worth a stop in any of their 99 trillion* shops.

More after the hop, skip and jump.

So I was surprised (kinda) when I saw Quiznos come out with a similar offer. Their very simple, "If you're gonna eat $5, shouldn't you get your money's worth?", bits are equally attention grabbing. Unfortunately, the deal is limited to just a few sandwiches - whereas Subway has a broader selection at that price.

OK, OK, not that surprising. But It's hard to walk out of a Quiznos without dropping at least $12. Does the average consumer need to spend that much on lunch? This one does not.

As the market continues to weaken, the trend to lower prices and most importantly, work that reflects price changes, will be on the up tick.

But now that Subway knows they can elicit a price change from the Q, maybe they'll realize they can put the latter out of business by keeping prices low. This in no way reflrcts a personal desire for Subway to stay cheap for as long as possible.**

*Not actual number, but it feels like they're everywhere.
**I fully advocate Subway staying cheap for as long as possible.