Wendy's (WEN) has slowly built its way into being the number two hamburger chain behind McDonald's (MCD). The chain has passed Restaurant Brands International's (QSR) Burger King for the number two spot in the United States by following a pretty simple formula.
Using fresh, never frozen beef sounds like a gimmick but it makes operations harder for Wendy's compared to its two big rivals. Frozen burger patties essentially never go to waste while fresh ones have to be used fairly quickly.
Wendy's basically made quality and fresh food its calling cars long before Chipotle even existed, On top of that model, the chain has also used clever menu innovation to build market share. It's a strategy that has led to the massive success of the Baconator, which started as a burger variant that has now become a platform.
The chain has Baconator fries and the Breakfast Baconator -- two variations on the original using mostly the same ingredients. Wendy's does not make a lot of menu changes and that makes any moves it does make a big deal.
That's why fans flipped out last summer when Wendy's added the Strawberry Frosty for a limited time. Doing that meant getting rid of the Vanilla Frosty as the Frosty machine only holds two flavors at a time.
And while Wendy's has added other Frosty flavors in international markets, it hasn't done so in the United States. Now, the chain is teasing fans with a bold new Frosty that has so far only appeared on social media and at a fairly major event.
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Wendy's Trolls Fans With a Purple Frosty
At TwitchCon 2022, an event for the Amazon gaming video platform, Wendy's showed up with a new Frosty flavor. It's purple and topped with Nerds candy, which made it essentially a product created for social media.
"Purple and covered in nerds, just like @Twitch #TwitchCon2022," the company shared on its Twitter page.
Fans, as you might imagine clearly wanted to know what they were seeing, but Wendy's sort of deadpanned its responses.
"It's very good," the fast food company posted in response to one comment without detailing what it actually tastes like.
The chain also told fans on Twitter who asked about the dessert treat that they could come get it at its TwitchCon booth, but then posted something that suggests it could have a future as a menu item.
"Just testing it today but you never know," the company shared.
Wendy's Plays the Social Media Game Perfectly
While Wendy's has wasted money (like McDonald's) building out a metaverse presence nobody ever asked for, the chain has done a very good job creating social media buzz. McDonald's may be the king of using social media to both get viral attention and do actual market research with its "Bring back ____" Tweet, but Wendy's has built a playful and engaging Twitter feed.
With this unnamed, who knows what it tastes like Purple Frosty, Wendy's has created a sort of perfect storm. It's visually engaging so people who had access to it a TwitchCon have shared pictures and that has created a buzz with the company's feed lighting up with people asking questions and sharing opinions.
Wendy's never actually shares any information about the new Frosty and simply lets fans take the conversation in all sorts of directions, popping in with some pithy (but not informative comments). That could make the Purple Frosty a hit before anyone ever tries it.
This could create a new model for fast food limited-time offers where chains get people to want an item before bringing it to stores. That could lead to demand and anticipation building until an actual release becomes a major event.
