Fast food giant Wendy’s today debuted its “reinvented” French fries with fanfare. It launched a new ad campaign slamming McDonald’s’ version of the snack, and has promised that Wendy’s fries will always be hot and crispy — or replaced for free.
Wendy’s is saying “no way” to cold, disappointing fast food fries. Today the No. 2 burger chain announced the debut of its new and improved Hot & Crispy Fries with an aggressive McDonald’s-bashing TV ad.In the new spot, viewers glimpse the dark, desolate, nightmarish world of ordering fast food fries and being greeted with mushy, sad excuses for the real thing. A rundown building stands solitary in a windswept, trash-littered parking lot. Images depict crispy, upright fries wilting into cold, soggy sticks. Viewers witness an apocalyptic montage of dilapidated drive-thru speakers radiating with the same eerie, repetitive chorus: “Do you want fries with that?” A text overlay reads, “Nobody wants cold & soggy fries with that.” Then, in contrast, viewers see a shiny Wendy’s storefront and a slick digital speaker system. A peppy voice chirps, “What would you like with your Hot & Crispy Fries?”
The chain, which passed Burger King in sales this year, says these aren’t the same old Wendy’s fries, rebranded. They are truly a reimagined take on the crispy snack. “At Wendy’s, we are always looking for new ways to innovate our menu where we see the competition lacking,” the company’s vice-president of culinary innovation John Li, said in a statement today. “As a fry fanatic, it’s not okay for fries to be just okay — so I set out with our culinary team on the pursuit of the perfect fry that would disrupt the category.”
In fact, the company tested 20 different types of potato cuts before embracing the latest version. It also invested further in employee training efforts and updated restaurant equipment and protocols to ensure that its new fries are hotter and crispier than ever. Wendy’s claims that in a national taste test survey conducted by an independent research firm, its new fries were preferred nearly two-to-one over competitor McDonald’s fries.To prove its confidence in the new Hot & Crispy Fries, Wendy’s is offering every customer the Hot & Crispy Guarantee.
If they don’t like their fries, they’ll be replaced for free, no questions asked. “The Hot & Crispy Guarantee is Wendy’s way of doubling down on fries, our most important side offering,” said Wendy’s US chief marketing officer Carl Loredo in a statement today. “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…[our Hot & Crispy Guarantee] is an expression of the trust we’ve built with our customers, assuring a high-quality, craveable experience every time.”To further promote the new product, the fast food behemoth is offering customers a free small Frosty with the purchase of any size order of Hot & Crispy Fries, exclusively through the Wendy’s app.
