Wendy's
| Company type | Public (NYSE: WEN) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio |
Key people | Dave Thomas, Founder |
| Products | Fast food, including hamburgers, chili, french fries, and dairy desserts |
| Revenue | $ 3.635 b (2004) |
Number of employees | 58,000 (2004) |
| Website | www.wendys.com |
Wendy's is a chain of fast-food restaurants founded by Dave Thomas and owned by the United States corporation, Wendy's International, Inc. The first Wendy's restaurant was opened in Columbus, Ohio on November 15, 1969, and grew rapidly to open over 3,000 stores by 1985. However, by the mid-80's some Wendy's restaurants became underperforming and closed. By 1989, Dave Thomas came out of retirement and started doing commericals for Wendy's and helped rebuild the restaurant until his death. The restaurant chain was named after Dave Thomas' 8-year old daughter, Melinda, who had the nickname of "Wendy." The corporate headquarters is located in Dublin, Ohio.
Starting on January 9, 1984, elderly actress Clara Peller was featured in the successful "Where's the Beef?" North American commercial campaign for Wendy's. Her famous line quickly entered the American pop culture (it was even used to devastating effect by Walter Mondale in defeating Gary Hart in the Democratic primary election) and served to promote Wendy's hamburgers. Peller, aged 84, was dropped from the campaign in 1985 because she performed in a commercial for Prego spaghetti sauce, saying she "finally found" the beef.
After international expansion in the 1980s, the chain retrenched in the late 1990s. In 1999 it pulled out of London and Hong Kong (which was located in Wan Chai).Template:Inote
The chain is famous for its chili, its Frosty dairy desserts, and the fact that their burgers are square, instead of round like most other fast food chains. And unlike most burger chains, Wendy's historically did not serve breakfast, except for stores in Puerto Rico. Wendy's tried serving breakfast in the mid-1980s, but the endeavor quickly failed. However, Wendy's has reformulated its breakfast menu recently and is now serving breakfast in many locations.
Wendy's got some big-screen airtime when two scientists seek refuge in a frozen-over Wendy's in the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow.
Countries with Wendy's
Wendy's has opened in Aruba, Canada, El Salvador, Greece, Honduras, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines and the United States.
Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers didn't last long in Australia. The restaurants were picked up by Hungry Jack's/Burger King Australia in 1986. Wendy's franchisee closed Wendy's stores in Greece somewhere in the 1990's after about 4 years of operation due to heavy competition by the local brand Goody's and McDonald's.
Advertising After Dave
After Dave Thomas' death in 2002, Wendy's has been struggling to find another proper form of advertising, since Dave Thomas had done nearly every Wendy's ad made from 1989 to 2002. They first just did conventional ads describing the food they serve, but later in 2004, they tried using a character they made called "Mr. Wendy" who claimed to be the unofficial spokesperson for the chain. Wendy's, on the other hand, was worried that the commercials focused more on the character of Mr. Wendy instead of Wendy's food, and in less than 7 months, Mr. Wendy was canned. After another year of conventional ads, Wendy's did small animated ads that showed circle people who were "ignorant." They were the competitors' hamburgers, and a Square who was smart and wise, which represented Wendy's burgers. In less than 3 months of airtime, these ads weren't seen anymore, with just conventional ads that describe the food. The animated ads stopped airing, but nobody knows if they were fully canned, or if they could possibly come back. The ads, however, can still be seen in some parts of the US as well as banner ads on the internet.
Wendy's is sometimes seen on ABC's hit reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition serving food to the more than 100 construction workers.
Slogans
- 1969: "Quality is Our Recipe"
- 1984: "Where's the beef?"
- Circa 1990: "The best burgers and a whole lot more"
- 2002 - "It's hamburger bliss."
- Circa 2004 - Present: "Eat great, even late"
- 2004: "It's better here"
- 2000 (approx) - Present: "We don't cut corners" (New Zealand)
- 2001 (approx) - Present: "El Sabor de lo Recien Hecho" (Honduras)
- 2005 - Present: "Do what tastes right"
- 2005 - Present: "It's Good To Be Square"
See also
- Anna Ayala claimed to find an amputated human finger in her chili on March 22, 2005. On April 21 she was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny in connection with the finger discovery claim. On May 13, police announced that they had positively identified the finger's owner, who is an associate of Ayala's husband [1]. The associate had lost his finger in an industrial accident in December 2004. Ayala pled guilty to the charge in September, 2005.
External links
- Wendy's official website
- Wendy's Good To Be Square website
- Wendy's Do What Tastes Right website
- Wendy's Philippines
- Junior! The Wendy's Guy - A cashier at the Wendy's in the University of Texas at Austin, who has gained notoriety for his quick fingers and friendly attitude.
References
- 'Wendy's International, Inc.', I Won Careers (2000). Retrieved August 21 2005.