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In the fast-food battle zone, the lines have long been drawn: McDonald’s runs the French fry business, and everyone fights over hamburger share. But Wendy’s new ad campaign is a proverbial shot across the bow, because it highlights a new type of French fries.
The new $25 million campaign promises “natural”: natural Russet Burbank potatoes, naturally cut, with natural sea salt. But beyond the promise of better taste and higher quality, the advertising is aiming to fulfill another challenging goal.
Specifically, the television spot shows a line of people waiting to try the new fries. The first sampler refuses to share them, running away with the fries down a beach in Los Angeles. This “sharing” notion aligns with the social media elements of the campaign, for which Wendy’s created a “Fry for All” application that allows users to post a box of fries to their Facebook page and share it with friends. The Wendy’s YouTube channel will show advertisements for the fries that also will provide the background for the company’s Twitter page. This seamless integration should help the promotion resonate with consumers.
It is a lot for a fry to shoulder. But Wendy’s wants to change the entire conversation when it comes to fast food, and its marketing communications seem like they might succeed in doing so.
Discussion Questions:
1. Will this campaign be successful?
Tanzina Vega, “Wendy’s Rethinks Fries in Nod to More Natural Foods,” The New York Times, November 21, 2010.
Grewal Levy Marketing News 
I think the way in which they are linking their Facebook and TV commercial campaign will allow for consumers to associate Wendy’s with the “natural” french fries as it is another way and an additional opportunity for Wendy’s to reach its market. Furthermore, Facebook is used by millions of users and it is a growing community, and while people skip TV commercials, Facebook does not allow for that and so the market is actually receiving the message, and it becomes more personal when one, or one’s friends are choosing to “share” the fries application. While most people don’t trust advertisement, word of mouth and recommendations are taken more positively and so Wendy’s is shifting its marketing to include that virtual word of mouth which can be successfully created through Facebook.