The Ridiculous Things People Will Do For Free Wendy's On Twitter
The Twitter team at Wendy's is as fresh as the chain's never-frozen patties, slinging zingers, dunks, and zany giveaways in a scroll of sassy sarcasm. Wendy's Twitter doesn't punch down, but they do punch across. Wendy's is an equal opportunity attacker, unafraid to throw shade at McDonald's, throw down with The King, and torch all comers on #NationalRoastDay.
This irreverent bent has built Wendy's quick-fire Twitter account into a mecca for nearly four million followers who have aided and abetted Wendy's comedic rise through social media. Although the brand posts quite frequently, Wendy's Twitter stans supply even more content than the brand itself does.
Whether they're seeking 280 characters of fame or just a free Frosty, fan participation with Wendy's is as involved as it is oddly riveting. The result is a two-way relationship between company and customer that's constantly spooling out in strange tangents. "What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar" has nothing on what people are willing to do for free Wendy's.
Participate in sprawling cyber scavenger hunts
Cyber scavenger hunts were nothing to write home about until Wendy's put their deliciously weird twist on them. In May of 2020, Wendy's tweeted out a weeklong blitz of clues to 130 separate hunts, sending their fans across cyberspace searching for digitized codes for a chance to win gift cards.
The first day of 2020's hunt was the most plentiful, as Wendy's rolled out 100 codes on Twitter. According to the official rules, each day's prizes would total $1000, starting with small potato ten-dollar prizes on day one and culminating in a final hunt on Friday where one lucky winner would haul away one grand.
Casting clues and codes into the realms of Spotify, Twitch, and Wendy's own website, the hunt was also a game-changer during COVID-19 lockdowns, as fans could play and win from home. Wendy's combined the power of their corporate partnerships with their clever weirdness, dropping hints on Twitter like: "A sweater wearing armadillo? What are we getting @?"
Build nonsensical March Madness brackets through DMs with a chatbot
When March Madness rolled around in 2017, Wendy's rolled out a chatbot on Twitter. But this wasn't just any chatbot; this bot helped you build a bracket (via Twitter Marketing).
If you thought you'd only be choosing between college blue-bloods like Duke, UCLA, UNC, or Kentucky, that's not what happened either. Instead, the bot got weirdly Wendy's with it, throwing out binary questions such as, "What's better, birds or people?" — and through answering those inquiries filled fans' brackets.
Answers to these odd prompts would be converted into basketball teams, resulting in a bona fide bracket for fans who weren't taking the madness too seriously. Even better, fans that participated had a chance to win various prizes.
In 2021, Wendy's allowed you to submit to their Twitter polls and fill out your bracket the "normal" way — but if you want a more laissez-faire approach to filling out your bracket through a goofy Q & A, Wendy's gets you.
Guess mystery flavors of Fanta
Fanta's flavorful hues stretch across the visible spectrum, and in October 2021, they teamed up with Wendy's in an attempt to stretch that spectrum further (via Twitter).
Blending their vivid sodas with Wendy's brilliant marketing, Fanta unveiled a trio of "Mystery Mixes" at Wendy's soda fountains. Whether they were combinations of previous flavors or completely new inventions was unknown, and solving this conundrum would require fan participation. Although you could argue an incentive was not needed, Wendy's decided to award $10,000 to one lucky Twitter sleuth who solved these palate puzzles correctly $10,000.
Running under the hashtag #WhatTheFanta, this lucrative Wendy's giveaway ran hot with Twitter participation, leading to long threads of wild guesses and odd comments. Although not required, fans could also post pictures of their Fanta concoctions along with their guesses, which ranged from vanilla to watermelon to "Sparkle Unicorn." Just another normal day on Wendy's Twitter!
Compete in a Tetris tournament
As Wendy's has expertly appealed to a younger fast-food demographic on Twitter, they've made similar progress on Twitch. Holding video game tournaments on the streaming service boosts both brand recognition and fan morale. What else boosts fan morale? Giving away a Wendy's Big Brain video game chair, of course (via Twitter). The chair is a big red bean bag modeled after Wendy's famous haircut; the top of the chair is a functioning pair of Wendy's pigtails that fits over a user's head when they sit down.
All you had to do to win the chair was win a Tetris 99 tourney on Twitch. Not an easy ask, nor an easy task, but definitely a fun watch. Videos from the tourney are all over YouTube, and it's clear that the competition was fierce and frenetic. The path to the chair had to be earned, and only the best at Tetris would be crowned with pigtails.
Post big brain headshots
When you're jonesing for Wendy's, pride can be defeated by hunger. For this giveaway, Wendy's whipped out their most unflattering filter and their fans were all about it.
All they had to do was reply to Wendy's with their normal headshot on Twitter, and Wendy's would photoshop their faces to maximum expansion. The big brain filter made their profiles look as if their pear-shaped heads would burst from the high PSI, giving the impression their craniums housed comically large brains.
Participating in this pageantry would allow fans to redeem a BOGO one-dollar deal, that is, buy one, get one for one dollar. Not a bad reward for submitting a headshot that would get stretched out into Twitter infamy. As few things on the internet truly disappear, these big brain headshots still linger on Twitter for your perusal. Whether these pictures are art or artifact is up to you and your big brain.
Post specialized hashtags to earn odd swag
Wendy's will also sling non-perishables to those willing to shill for them. On June 10, 2021, Wendy's posted their free swag siren on Twitter and asked fans to promote their Frosty-ccino. A cold-brew coffee combined with Frosty-flavored creamer, the drink was sure to be a hit, and the promo was sure to be weird.
By posting a hashtag the length of a homework assignment, #WendysFrostyccinoIsColdBrewWithFrostyCreamer, fans could win a long-sleeve coffee-accented T-shirt with their slogan, "Frosty-ccino is cold brew with coffee creamer." The slogan was so on-the-nose that it was lovable, and the post predictably received over 300 retweets.
If coffee-stained crewnecks are not your style, do keep an eye on Wendy's free swag drops. These events typically accompany the rollout of a new product, and it's always worth watching out for what Wendy's comes up with, no matter how strange or strangely appropriate.
Solve crossword puzzle clues
This isn't obviously zany or ridiculous until you realize that the crossword is for a fast-food restaurant (via Twitter). Like anything Wendy's-related, this crossword follows the beat of its own drummer. Although it resembles a typical Sunday crossword, it's sprinkled with Wendy's-centric clues and descriptors you'd expect to find at The Onion. It's a high-brow punch-up to Wendy's brand of humor using a legacy form of entertainment.
The crossword is legitimate, and from a distance, it evokes the New York Times, as not all the clues are ridiculous. But when you zoom closer you find the Wendy's touch, where comedy and effort intersect to create a quality experience. Clues such as "Corn holder" and "Charlie Brown expletive" may elicit a smile, just as filling out the grid solicits your attention.
The Wendy's crossword ultimately serves as yet another nebula in their universe, merging reality and marketing through user experience. Arguably the best part of that user experience is winning a free Breakfast Baconator on the Wendy's app, which is what this particular crossword exists to promote.
Share humiliating stories of being ghosted
They say comedy is tragedy plus time, and this gimmick sought to accelerate the adage (via Twitter). By sharing embarrassing stories of rejection, Wendy's Twitter followers could claim free comfort food. And boy did they share their grief.
From being ghosted on Tinder to being ignored twice by a guy who worked at McDonald's, fans shared their stories of humiliation in exchange for free Dave's Singles. One user recounted how they were supposed to meet someone for a movie date, only to find out that the person showed up with someone else. Ouch.
Perhaps this exercise proved therapeutic for some. Sharing a story others find funny for a free burger isn't the worst thing in the world, and sometimes you really need to get things off of your chest — and again, you got a free burger, so why not share your strife with Wendy's?
Participate in a trivia contest where the winner earns free burgers for life
Not all knowledge of trivia proves trivial. Partnering with HQ Trivia, Wendy's offered free burgers for life to the winners of their Bacon Trivia Night during halftime of Super Bowl LIII between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. The showdown between the Rams and Patriots was all kinds of boring, a slow-pace slugfest that finished with a 13-3 score, according to the Los Angeles Times. At halftime, it was even worse, as the Patriots took a 3-0 lead to the locker room, good for the second-lowest-scoring first half in Super Bowl history.
In other words, it was the perfect opportunity for Wendy's to take a chance on trivia. Who wouldn't want to play a quick round of bacon trivia to escape the inaction on the gridiron? The contest was a quick success and Wendy's announced the winner over Twitter, posting a video of the phone call where they broke the wonderful news.
Use goofy promo codes
By now you're accustomed to the Wendy's weirdness, but you should know it doesn't stop there, because it doesn't stop anywhere. Thanks to the infinite scroll of the Internet, Wendy's Twitter has become a playground of gargantuan proportions and massive reach. By experimenting with new zany antics as they continue to explore the expanding space, Wendy's continues to try out new strange things and push the boundaries of corporate Twitter.
Wendy's wheelhouse of absurdities has even birthed proposed holidays such as #NationalChickenTendersDay. That spirit of odd magnanimity extends into their promo codes. Usually posted in all-caps, and typically absurd, Wendy's promo codes often give their fans free delivery. During selected promotional periods, codes such as NUGHUG would send free food to one of your pals through Postmates. And if delivery apps aren't your thing, through their promo GROUPNUG, you could hit up the drive-thru and treat yourself with a four-piece nugget.