Sandwich Subculture.
by Neely Catignani
Recently, I’ve discovered that sandwiches have become quite the topic of discussion among the niche blog world. Handfuls of witty contributors are creating amusing content, stimulating quite the conversation around lunch’s longtime counterpart.
Pursuing the marvel a little further I made a list of the tastiest sandwich-logs, according to me and my breaded hunger.
1. Skinnygirlsbigsandwiches.com – A photo log of skinny girls eating large sandwiches
2. Insanewiches.com – A self-proclaimed ‘great time waster’ for fellow foodies to submit and rank sandwich art insanity
3. Scanwiches.com – Scans of sandwiches for education and delight
4. Betweenthebreadblog.com – Random writings about sandwiches from a girl in San Francisco
5. Simplysandwiches.net – Deep analyzations of sandwiches in the context of Strategy and Execution
6. Scanwich.com – Supposedly the original scanwich site (but not as cool as the previously listed since they stopped posting)
7. Unbreaded.com – Reviews, news, interviews and recipes, exclusively devoted to sandwiches
Now, just in case you were about to dismiss this frequency as a by-product of high unemployment rates or perhaps even meaningless musings from the bored, keep this in mind: All of these sites have posts that are current (within the last week) and content that is unique, most of the sites have users that are submitting and commenting on content, and a few of the sites have enough traffic that they are monetizing their efforts by selling banner ads.
So, perhaps the sandwich blog world is just a random act of yumminess. But, while we’re all out hunting for people to join our Tribes and make the brands we are hired by famous, maybe we can all take a lesson from the sandwich-blog subculture.
Here are a few learnings I think we can all take with us. Feel free to add to this list.
- Voyeurism is addictive. If you can give an audience the feeling that they are invading your personal space, they will likely become engaged.
- Never forget that humans are naturally attracted to beautiful things. Sandwiches, with all their layers of textures and colors, are just downright pretty. They are artful and often our humanistic need for beauty overrides our need for logic.
- Advancing digital technologies promote activity among the independent world of creatives. Nowadays, we can all be independent film makers, professional flickr photographers, and culinary critics.
- Sandwiches are relevant and connect us to our childhood. Almost everyone can relate by recalling memories of sandwiching from way back. When you’re mother made you eat your crust, she made an impact and you can still relate.



It’s quite amazing how some blogs seem to be based on a quirky idea, like a sandwich blog, and yet they can sell ad space and generate revenue from their hobby. But its genius really – sandwiches are something that everyone can relate to and probably has some affinity for. Plus even someone deemed uncreative can make “art” with their sandwiches. Fun stuff!
Posted at 9:40 am on October 14th, 2009
bring me a sandwich!
Posted at 10:12 am on October 14th, 2009
Im hungry.
Love the scanwiches.com How does he do that? He must have to line up all the goodies up front to go face down on the scanner.
Interesting perspective too, everyone has a fav sandwich, and lots of folks think they can make a mean one. Good post.
Posted at 1:16 pm on October 17th, 2009