- Tl;dr – Wendy’s Twitter is hilarious with it’s roasts. The long version is that for a while now, the people behind the hamburger chain’s Twitter handle have been doing a killer job at gaining engagement from their followers / customers.
- The Wendy's account tweeted. The two chains have had an ongoing Twitter rivalry and Wendy's was quick to call McDonald's out in 2017 when the restaurant accidentally posted an incomplete tweet. “When the tweets are as broken as the ice cream machine,” Wendy's wrote.
What's your favorite item on the Wendy's menu? The Spicy Chicken Sandwich? The Frosty? Or the sass?
The Wendy's Twitter account has developed quite the cheeky reputation, and once a year, on National Roast Day, the burger chain serves up an extra dose of sass while poking fun at its competitors.
Vulture called it 'The Wendy's Roast Heard Round the World.' In January of 2017, the fast-food chain became famous for more than its chicken nuggets when it clapped back at a Twitter user who, as Wendy's playfully accused, 'had forgotten refrigerators existed.' It was a bold statement by the brand but people loved how funny (and sassy) the Wendy's persona was.
Even media outlets like The Washington Post pointed out the irony behind Wendy's brutal burns, all while repped by a mascot who is pretty much the sweetest little girl you can imagine. Fans were hooked, and the chain now has 3.8 million followers compared to 3.7 million McDonald's followers and only 1.9 million Burger King followers. It's no wonder Fast Company put Wendy's at number one on its list of 'Most Innovative Companies' in 2019, and why publications like Time Out love rounding up the chain's best quips. A great example of this is when McDonald's accidentally tweeted a placeholder, 'Black Friday **** Need copy and link****,' and Wendy's retweeted with: 'When the tweets are as broken as the ice cream machine.'
So, where does all this sass come from? Who's writing these tweets? Let's uncover the truth behind the Twitter beef.
Wendy's is a marketing trendsetter
What makes the Wendy's Twitter account so unique is that it isn't following some classic marketing playbook. In fact, the brand is credited with setting the tone for how brands interact with followers on social media today. As Vulture explains, brands had already ditched the promotions and started speaking directly to their clients but it was Wendy's who made this approach an art form — and a viral one at that — with its specific kind of comedy.
Wendy's Chief Concept and Marketing Officer at the time (he has since changed titles) Kurt Kane told Forbes: 'We want to be likable and sassy. We don't want to be seen as sarcastic and rude. But we walk a fine line.' Maybe that balance is what made the Wendy's persona one for other brands to emulate. After all, when a Twitter user asks Wendy's to point her to the nearest McDonald's and Wendy's simply responds with an image of a trash can, how can you not laugh (via Ranker)?
In addition to brand-roasting, Wendy's also started the 'how many retweets for X' trend, reports Vulture. In April of 2017, a Twitter user asked: 'How many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?' and Wendy's set the bar at 18 million. The tweet hasn't reached 18 million yet, but after it became the most retweeted tweet ever, Wendy's did give the person a year of free nuggets, via Delish.
Wendy's has invented a social media holiday
The roasts from Wendy's became popular fast. As the brand's Twitter bio states: 'We like our tweets the same way we like to make our hamburgers: better than anyone expects from a fast-food joint.'
Writer Marina Nazario summed up the phenomenon for Spoon University: 'Customers love interacting with brands on social media. It makes us feel like our opinion or problems matter. Wendy's being active on social media is nothing new — the roasting, however, is something we haven't seen yet. And people seem to love it.'
So what to do when you've got a craze on your hands? Make it a holiday, of course! Wendy's started celebrating its own talent for comebacks with #NationalRoastDay. According to TODAY, the chain invented the holiday soon after starting the brands-roasting-brands trend, and while it's not like Wendy's won't roast anyone the other 364 days a year, #NationalRoastDay really fires Twitter users up and gets all eyes on Wendy's. In fact, other brands love getting in on the fun so much that they volunteer to be roasted.
Thrillist rounded up some epic Wendy's tweets from 2021's #NationalRoastDay, on February 11. When Velveeta asked to be roasted, Wendy's replied, 'How are you a verified account when you're not even verified cheese?' And to Oreo's request: 'New flavor idea: Don't.'
Who is behind the Wendy's Twitter account?
With such a noticeable impact on social media marketing and such memorably hilarious tweets, the biggest question on people's minds quickly became: 'Who is behind the Wendy's Twitter account?' Mashable was quickly on the case, divulging the identity of Wendy's social media manager in January of 2017.
The clever tweet author was Amy Brown and although there are multiple people behind Wendy's Twitter account (no one can be tweeting 24/7!) Brown was the whip-smart sass master with a razor-sharp wit who kicked off the entire roasting sensation and led Wendy's to its place in the social media hall of fame. The brand's vice president of advertising at the time, Brandon Rhoten, told Mashable that he'd hired Brown 'after trolling her on Twitter,' so the social media expert's unique flair had been fully vetted.
Brown has since moved on from Wendy's, and a 2019 Fast Company article reveals that the Twitter feed is currently penned by a team of five witty employees.
The Wendy's Twitter team opened up with a Reddit AMA
Other than the limited behind-the-scene peeks offered by marketing-focused publications like Mashable, Wendy's keeps its Twitter operation under pretty tight wraps. But in December of 2017, Wendy's gave in to its fans' clamoring and pulled back the curtain with a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). As you can imagine, the team's answers were a mix of serious and, well, not so serious.
Wendy's Twitter Funny
To a question on what made Wendy's take its signature Twitter approach, the brand replied: 'We've had this tone for a while, it just took time for people to notice.' And if you've wondered if anyone on the team has ever actually gotten in trouble for a tweet that maybe went too far, the team said: 'Not like big-time trouble, but sure, we've been 'talked to.' In a less genuine reveal, the Wendy's team also answered an inquiry on what type of education was needed for such a job with: 'A Masters at the School of Memeology nothing less.'
Wendy's released a brand-roasting rap album
In March of 2018, Wendy's took its penchant for internet beef into the world of music, releasing a hip hop mixtape called, appropriately, We Beefin'?. The five-track album debuted on Spotify, iTunes, and Google Play, according to the Chicago Tribune. Songs like 'Twitter Fingers,' 'Holding It Down,' 'Rest in Grease,' 'Clownin,' and '4 for $4' captured and elevated the fast-food chain's beloved sense of humor, and did so in a way that was, perhaps surprisingly, actually good in musical terms. Thrillist even said that you could probably put the mixtape on and your friends wouldn't even notice it was a marketing stunt and not a standard hip hop record.
CNBC reported that Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor placed the focus of the mixtape on the fact that Wendy's food is fresh and never frozen.
'It's really about telling our food story, that we're fresh, never frozen, and we called out a few of the competitors along the way, but we want to really make sure that people understand that we are fresh and we're a little bit different,' Penegor said (via CNBC).
However, fans may have been more drawn to the fact that this album was jam-packed with the kind of brand-roasting that made the Wendy's Twitter account a hit. Few lines capture the genius of Wendy's tweets better than a lyric pointed at McDonald's from 'Rest in Grease' (via Genius): 'You number 1? That's a joke / Why yo' ice cream machine always broke?'
[[UPDATED DECEMBER 14, 2017]]
You know Wendy’s? Fast food restaurant, burgers, logo of a girl with red pigtails? Yep, that’s the one. As it turns out, the very best thing about Wendy’s may not be their burgers, but their Twitter account.
Wendy’s Twitter has gotten a ton of attention and gained notoriety for their distinct brand voice that includes constant zingers to users and competitors alike. Last year they picked a fight with Burger King (and won), and have gone viral several times since due to their quick wit. It may be more dangerous to pick on Wendy’s than an actual comedian at this point.
Wendy’s voice and brand is unique to them, but small businesses can learn from their overall strategy and apply those lessons to their own social media accounts. Regardless of whether you roast people or not (if you do, please proceed with caution), there are four big things we can all take away from their epic social media game.
Wendys Twitter Protected
1. Distinctive Brand Personality
We talk a lot about “brand personality” and “your voice” when it comes to both content marketing and social media marketing. Your business’s brand and voice can help set it apart from competition, making you unique and helping you build more concrete relationships with your customers—even if you never see them face to face (or only for a few seconds in a drive-thru line). And Wendy’s personality is definitely well defined and distinct.
Their sarcasm and fearless humor is the central part of their brand, and it shows up in the majority of their tweets. Even if they’re not roasting someone, a lot of their posts are clever, casual, and funny.
Their content is promotional, but it’s still so much fun. People actually check in to see what Wendy’s is doing and how they’re responding to other users because it’s so ridiculously entertaining. The phrase “don’t troll the troll” comes to mind; if you take Wendy’s on, you know they’ll come back with something fantastic.
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Newblue titler pro for mac. The lesson here: find the voice that fits with your brand and center your content around that personality. Make your business’s brand unique and distinctive, and you’ll pique users’ interest.
2. Authenticity
Another phrase you’ll hear when we talk about excelling in social media marketing is “authenticity.” Your brand and social media accounts need to feel authentic. What this really means, at the end of the day, is that users want to be able to read your content and believe two things:
- It was written by an actual person, and not a bot or some sort of automated curation tool
- That, to an extent, your intentions are transparent
Wendy’s accomplishes both of these checkpoints in droves. No computer could come up with the clever, highly entertaining posts that they share.
Wendy’s Twitter also strikes the perfect balance of straight up promotional content and content that’s meant to entertain and drive engagement; in many cases, they skillfully blend the two in a way a lot of brands don’t.
Wendy’s also shares a heavy dose of user generated content (UGC) by seeking out and retweeting great content; they’ll even share content they were never directly tagged in if its great and relevant. Since UGC is the most authentic form of marketing, this is a great strategy.
3. Long-Term Consistency
Picking a strategy and sticking with it is (barring any true catastrophies) can be a great plan. Consistency is a huge benefit on social media, both in terms of what you’re posting and how often.
Wendy’s posts frequently, and while they use a variety of different content types, everything on their feed makes sense when looked at as a whole. They maintain their spit-fire voice instead of relying on a few great one-liners every six months.
This long-term consistency allows them to keep engagement high, and keep their momentum going. This is something many brands fail to do; they’ll have one great campaign, and they get a ton of attention, and then it all kind of tapers off. Several Old Spice campaigns, for example, have done this.
Wendy’s, however, went in ready to maintain what they were working on—and it’s paid off.
4. Extremely Responsive
Our last major lesson that all small businesses can learn from Wendy’s is to always be extremely responsive. Thanks to the immediacy and constant accessibility of the internet, people want responses to any and all interactions, and they want them now. And Wendy’s is ready.
Wendy’s responds to an immense number of user tweets, even the ones that are clearly just looking to egg Wendy’s on.
Wendy’s responds quickly, and while they clearly address any and all tweets possible, they make sure to respond quickly (and seriously) to users who have complaints. They never let a complaint go unanswered, and they make it clear to the user that they want to resolve any issues. Yosemite mac os x hackintosh for amd. If it takes them a little while to answer, they’ll even apologize for the delay.
In a hilarious recent update, Wendy’s even responded to the kind of question most brands would ignore with an eye roll: “How many retweets do I need to get free nuggets for a year?”
Wendy’s actually replied and gave them a number: 18 million. So far, the user (Carter Wilkerson) has gotten over 2.7 million retweets, and Wendy’s is getting so much publicity it would probably be worth giving this guy a year of free nuggets.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
Wendy’s has a multiple person team handling their social media, but tools like Agorapulse’s social monitoring and reviewing can make it possible for you to handle and address every single user interaction with your brand. You can spot mentions, and quickly flag down and resolve customer issues from our user-friendly dashboard.
You can also flag or assign tweets and comments to team members who might have a stronger brand voice (or whose wit is on fire that day).
Wendy's Twitter Clapbacks
Final Thoughts
While Wendy’s has a professional (and very witty) team supporting the brand, all small businesses can adapt the strategies they use. They’ve created and maintained a distinct voice that relies heavily on authenticity, and are now known for their exceptional responses, both customer service and otherwise. At the end of the day, this comes down to consistently giving your customers what they want and showing that you care.
Wendy's Twitter Page
This will go a lot further than you think.