Subway ad features people riding a 9.5m SubBoat on Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown residents Matthew Bourque, Jen-ni Quante, Sue Bradley, Shakur Wairepo, Kwame Mensah, Sukaina Arini, Bo Fishe and Greg Dorn ride a SubBoat. Photo / Supplied

It's not your normal chicken teriyaki Subway.

The fast food giant has just launched its "Feel Good" television advertising campaign in New Zealand and Australia featuring a 9.5m-long "SubBoat" floating on Lake Wakatipu.

Eight Queenstown residents were selected for the advertisement, six from talent agency Monarch and the others from Exposure and Ican.

Queenstown casting director Jackie Gay said Australian production company Happy Films wanted an ethnically diverse cast "to reflect the diversity of Subway customers".

One of the actors, Sue Bradley, a long-time windsurfer, said "they also wanted people who were going to be water-confident — we were warned there was a possibility we might go in".

Local art director-production designer John Allan said the SubBoat had a steel frame and featured polystyrene coated with fibreglass and latex as well as a drop-down keel.

"I've never designed a floating sandwich before, but there's a first for everything in our business."