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Popular Publix ‘Pub Sub’ Twitter account shows life again after going dark for month

Legal pressure by Publix lawyers temporarily shut down the account. As of Tuesday, the tweets were back.
 
A Publix chicken tender sub. And yes, whoever ordered this wanted the combo today.
A Publix chicken tender sub. And yes, whoever ordered this wanted the combo today.
Published April 28, 2021|Updated April 29, 2021

The popular Twitter account that notifies people when Publix chicken tender subs go on sale is back.

After being abandoned for over a month because of legal pressure from lawyers at Publix, the account @PubSubs_on_sale tweeted again Tuesday afternoon.

The account posted a “thank you” to its followers, followed by a familiar announcement that has made the account a must-follow to Pub Sub consumers since 2017: Yes, Publix chicken tender subs are on sale this week for $6.99.

The account “Are Publix Chicken Tender Subs On Sale?” — with nearly 40,000 followers — had been dormant since March 11. One of its final tweets noted that the subs were, indeed, on sale, but added ominously: “This may be our last Tweet.”

The Twitter account would remain silent until Tuesday. Its sister account on Facebook still has not posted since March.

Related: Popular ‘Pub Sub’ social media accounts go silent after Publix objects

Why did it go dark?

Bryan Dickey, the 26-year-old man behind the tweets, according to LinkedIn, posted an explanation to his personal Twitter account earlier this month. He said Publix was objecting to a related text-message service he set up in January which allowed users to be notified about sub sales if they texted “PUBSUB” to a listed phone number.

A comment under a post from the popular account that notifies consumers when Publix is offering a sale on its chicken-tender subs. [ Facebook ]

It wasn’t clear how Dickey was profiting from the service. He said as early as January 2018 that he was making money off his Publix subs ventures and last year said he had made more than $5,000.

Dickey said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times that he was not ready to share details about what happened. Publix did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

On Thursday, Dickey released a statement on Twitter that more thoroughly explains what happened from his perspective.