Wendy’s wages campaign against cold, soggy fries

From taking a shot at McDonald’s in its campaign video to stressing the importance of crispy fries in a meal, Wendy's is going all out to promote its new product innovation.

A decade ago, Wendy’s had launched its new version of natural-cut fries with sea salt. The company had redesigned its classic fries for the first time in its 41-year history back then. In focus were characteristics such as the golden colour, real potato taste, crispiness, and long-lasting hotness. They have come a long way since, upgrading their most important side once again. This time, Wendy’s product innovation and related campaign promotions are like a war against cold, soggy fries.

With this launch, Wendy's is innovating its menu for items its competitors are not paying enough attention to. It works beautifully as a strategy for their biggest competitors, McDonald’s and Burger King, have been busy fighting it out among themselves to dish out the best burgers. The campaign, including the videos meant to train the staff, has been created by VMLY&R.

The main campaign video stands out for dissing at McDonald's with a brand-claimed statistic that the "reinvented Hot & Crispy Fries are a cut above the competition, preferred nearly 2:1 to McDonald's French Fries in a national taste test."

It is not Wendy's first attempt to one-up McDonald's. They have been doing so on Twitter for a while now.

Also Read: When Wendy’s took a dig at McDonald’s Black Friday Tweet

In fact, they have previously even teamed up with Chef Mike Haracz, a former McDonald's chef, to promote their new breakfast range. This time, he was featured in a tasting video, as a fan of Wendy's.

In a statement released in 2010, Wendy’s had explained, “After several months in the company’s R&D labs, the new natural-cut fries were test-marketed in three cities across the U.S. Consumers gave very high ratings for quality, taste and overall value. Fry sales were above expectations and continued to be strong even after the test marketing advertising ended.”

This time around, they say, “Wendy's is taking a stand against cold and soggy fry disappointment from industry competitors with the introduction of a new Hot & Cripsy Fry Guarantee."

The new fries are made, as they put it, with real potatoes for improved heat protection and crispiness — a result of an R&D process where 20 different cuts were tried and processed. The restaurant chain has also put in efforts to train its crew to make these new fries, along with upgrading the equipment present in the stores.

"We know customers deserve better than the cold, soggy fries they've been receiving at competitors. That's why we're committed to delivering hot and crispy fries with every single order – if your fries aren't hot and crispy when you receive them, we'll replace them, no questions asked," says Wendy's U.S. Chief Marketing Officer, Carl Loredo.