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| Wendy Thomas in TV ad |
The Wendy's fast food chain has new ads for a new high calorie burger featuring the namesake of the restaurant, Wendy Thomas, daughter of the late Dave Thomas. What my family and friends find unusual about her in this ad is that she's significantly overweight. Although there's certainly nothing wrong with overweight people selling burgers, it seems odd because there's a special context here.
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| 800 calorie double Big 'n' Juicy burger |
What if Ronald McDonald was fat? We know that she grew up with her dad owning this successful chain of restaurants and here she is, beautiful, radiant, and charming, but noticeably overweight, seemingly proof that being around fast food may not be healthy. What's worse is that she's selling one of their fattest, most calorie-ridden burgers yet. The Dave's Big 'n' Juicy as pictured is 800 calories, competing perhaps with McDonald's' new 800 calorie 1/3 pound Angus burgers (I thought fast food was supposed to be getting healthier. I'll say it again: The Big Mac at 500 calories now looks like a 'lite' burger.)
I'm not entirely sure what to make of this ad and my (our) response to it, but it is certainly something to think about. I will say this: It took some chutzpah on the part of Wendy Thomas and the ad agency to use an overweight spokesperson who happens to be the face of the chain, normally in caricature as a child, now grown up and presumably not a picture of perfect health.
48 grams of fat, for crying out loud, and she brags about the buns of this burger being buttered! Because they just didn't have enough fat in the ground beef, cheese and mayo!
from MSNBC:
ReplyDelete"Tasters said they wanted a thicker burger, so Wendy's started packing the meat more loosely, trained grill cooks to press down on the patties two times instead of eight, and printed "Handle Like Eggs" on the boxes that the hamburger patties were shipped in so they wouldn't get smashed. And Wendy's researchers knew that customers wanted warmer and crunchier buns, so they decided that buttering them and then putting them through a toaster was the way to go.
In the end, Wendy's researchers changed everything but the ketchup. They switched to whole-fat mayonnaise, nixed the mustard, and cut down on the pickles and onions, all to emphasize the flavor of the beef. They also started storing the cheese at higher temperatures so it would melt better, a change that required federal approval."
This reminds me of an article I read, perhaps that you posted, where some high percentage of patrons wanted restaurants to offer healthier options and then only a minute percentage of patrons actually ordered them? We can blame the industry, and perhaps deservedly so. But then we keep proving them right. This will probably be a big seller. When I want a delicious burger, this is probably how I'd want it to taste. So it's a treat and will have to remain that way.
ReplyDeleteOh, and regarding Wendy.... Well, she looks how America actually looks, I suspect. I think it's honest and kind of contrary to industry thinking, which always shows sporty, built men (never women) biting into huge burgers. Women eat the salads and sip the iced coffees. Have you ever noticed that? It's somehow obscene to show a woman chomping into a big, greasy burger. She can be near it, maybe hold it. But never eat it. I can't remember if Wendy is shown eating it. I doubt it. - Monica
ReplyDeleteAbout 4 years ago on a road trip, I got sucked into trying the new (at the time) Wendy's Milkshake. It was good, tasted like a real milkshake and even had a cherry on top. Vanilla was the only flavour I tried.
ReplyDeleteSo, on rare occasions I would buy this milkshake.
This summer on the road in Ontario, we stopped at a roadside Wendy's and I ordered a Vanilla shake. It was different. It was oily tasting and horrible, with no cherry on top. I thought they just screwed up the making of it, but no, this is their new 'formula.' It's awful and probably very bad for you. I just googled and came up with this quote
"Still, the "worst milkshake" award goes to the vanilla. It's a flavor you'd think would be inoffensive, but didn't come across as "vanilla" at all; its syrup almost reminded me of a fake banana flavor. Cloying and confusing. Buyer beware."
http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/07/sweet-talk-wendys-new-shakes.html
B.
From a marketing standpoint, she's probably the ideal spokesperson because people get that "she's just like me" feeling that we all think we're immune to. I caught myself the other day considering buying a Subaru because " it would fit my active lifestyle" because I see them all the time sponsoring triathlons. Marketing is an evil, evil business.
ReplyDeleteTracy
The whole world of advertising fascinates me. It's all aimed to manipulate our ideas with the images and words. I wasn't sure what to think of Wendy in the ad. My first reaction was that they were using her to show that it's okay to be in here eating the burgers even if you are overweight. How many times do we use the drive-thru so we don't have to face people who may judge us for eating this type of food?
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