Wendy’s is Offering Free Roasts on Their Twitter!!!!
Currently, if you went out and asked a certain demographic of people about their perception of Wendy’s, I’m sure that a recurring subject would be their hilariously sassy Twitter account. Sure, Wendy’s products are as consistently tasty as they are artery-clogging and most people recognize Wendy with the firey-red, pig-tailed, bowed-up hair, but Wendy’s social media presence was extremely underwhelming until very recently. Up until early January of 2017, Wendy’s Twitter feed was almost identical to their Facebook & Instagram accounts: posting status quo photos and videos detailing classic and new menu items, videos promoting new in-store deals, etc. It was all canned content, nothing original, nothing relatable for their customers, nothing really special in comparison to their competition’s social media usage.
But that all changed on January 2nd, 2017. This was the day when Wendy’s had a social media revelation. On this day, Wendy’s was getting the routine amount of Twitter mentions/messages/etc. but one reply to a previously posted picture of a burger set Wendy’s social media manager’s mind off. Putting myself in their shoes, I would’ve replied to @NHride’s original comment the exact same way, with grace, class, and tangible facts, a typical corporate response to negativity. Upon his 2nd response however, I would have began to question @NHride’s IQ, or perhaps how faded he might have been while thinking it would be fun to diss Wendy’s on Twitter(or for that matter to make your display name “Thuggy-D”). This is when Wendy’s tweeting started to get sassy. Wendy’s Twitter manager had clearly had enough and wanted to put this guy in his place. So, naturally, Wendy’s public Twitter account brilliantly clapped back at him, dissing his intelligence, and the result was so bad it made him DELETE his entire Twitter account! For those who don’t know what a clapback is, essentially, its a commonly used hip-hop term meaning replying to a diss with another diss of your own, or more elegantly put, defending your status with a line (or a verse) that would put your competitor(s) below you, ultimately withholding your reputation. Here is a screenshot to give you a better idea of the interaction that started the clapback war on Wendy’s Twitter account:
(Twitter)
This heated, but hilarious exchange got a lot of people talking, laughing, and purchasing Wendy’s food. It was really the first time a big fast food corporation like Wendy’s had replied to a negative comment with a sassy clapback, and the Twitter / millennial community loved it. Eventually websites like Buzzfeed, Vice, CNBC, and Business Insider began writing articles about Wendy’s new behaviour on Twitter, expressing their thoughts on how hilarious it is. Wendy’s roasts became so popular that they actually changed their own Twitter bio to express how well they can take a joke directed at them and send a better one back to defend their company. Unfortunately, they changed it back recently to their old boring one, but the legacy of the sassy Twitter bio lives on in our memories…
With the popularity of this initial tweet, Wendy’s followers expected more material similar to this to keep them entertained in the future, and Wendy’s delivered. Wendy’s quickly became known as the fast food company that would reply to Twitter criticisms with a clapback, most of the time out doing the original comment directed towards them. In doing this, Wendy’s really made themselves and their Twitter account relatable to the younger, more popular crowd because currently, Twitter clapbacks have become very popular and common in the millennial world. As hip-hop became more and more popular over the years, so did dissing on social media accounts. Dissing and hip-hop just go hand-in-hand, like PB & J. Most people who are familiar with hip-hop artists and hip-hop culture would comment that dissing and clapbacks are instrumental in relationships between beefing crews and rappers. Recently, it has become very popular to clapback people on social media, Twitter especially, essentially calling people out on their shit. With this growing popularity, many smaller companies tried to use these tactics to relate to their target demographic, most of the time falling short on quality or authenticity. Wendy’s however provided an account that most of the time, would post hilarious, sassy remarks that would cement their reputation over the competitors. Quickly, Wendy’s would find themselves in roast battles with other fast food restaurants like McDonald’s:
(Twitter)
Burger King:
(Twitter)
and essentially any follower that would take shots at them or their food:
(Twitter)
I believe that by consistently posting these kinds of responses, Wendy’s really helped themselves by creating a funny social media campaign that utilizes planned content. Lately, most active millennials on Twitter have been all about memes and roasts. Wendy’s saw this pattern as an opportunity to connect and relate to one of their target demographics and present themselves as a peer and not just a glooming corporation whose tweets are formulated by boring computers. Although the social media manager probably didn’t think of it at the time, her initial response on January 2nd was brilliant, and was a perfect stepping off point for a hilarious roasting social media campaign.
Although this campaign went successfully, it could have easily gone off the edge for being too mean / offensive which would have spelled out disaster for Wendy’s. I feel as though a roasting account on Twitter has to be very aware of their followers and the impending reaction they will have to every Tweet they send out. Twitter is a very different world than life irl; people get away with saying much crazier, more controversial stuff that they wouldn’t be able to muster up in front of their faces. It’s for that exact reason that so many people use Twitter: the anonymity and distance that comes with it. That being said, Wendy’s couldn’t use Twitter as a veil to diss everyone because that would get a bit tiring for their followers. Instead, Wendy’s continued to post more canned content to maintain the public image of a fast food corporation, but every so often when given an opportunity, they would spring up and roast whoever tweeted something negative towards them. This would make these kinds of posts special for their followers because they are expecting something funny and fresh (like their patties). In order to do this, Wendy’s had to dial it back a little bit with the roasting to present that they are still a fast food corporation at heart and that their status quo usage of social media wouldn’t be gone for long.
(Twitter)
In conclusion, Wendy’s enforced a very interesting and influential social media tactic that large corporations had not thought of previously. It made Wendy’s, which was already a rather large household name for fast food, get massive amounts of buzz on their social media, which was not directly linked to anything food related. Although I don’t know exactly if the roasting campaign aided Wendy’s overall sales, I can assume that some people on Twitter (as influenced as they are by social media) would have thought about Wendy’s over their competitors solely due to their clapbacks / roastings. And that’s the modern power of Twitter I guess. When you live in a world where a certain degree of power and influence comes from social media, one only needs to do something that hasn’t been done (or done properly) before and make yourself popular and trending.
Anyways, I’m gonna go get a Baconator and chocolate frosty now, pceeee.
