DUBLIN Ohio Wendy’s has decided to scrap its “That’s Right” campaign, which made a ponytailed red wig the center of attention, and replace it with TV spots that focus on food.
The new commercials, aired for franchisees today at their national meeting in Orlando, Fla., open and close with animated depictions of Wendy, the red-haired little girl featured in the chain’s logo. The body of the spots consist of “lingering, mouthwatering photography of Wendy’s premium quality food,” the chain said in a statement.
The new tag is, “It’s waaaay better than fast food. It’s Wendy’s.”
“Our quality food will be the hero of our advertising once again,” Kerrii Anderson, chief executive and president of Wendy’s International Inc., said in the chain’s statement. She said the new campaign is based on eight months of consumer research.
Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners of New York, which shares creative duties with Saatchi & Saatchi, developed the new campaign.
Saatchi & Saatchi created the red wig campaign, which broke in the second quarter of 2007. Shortly afterward, Wendy's chief marketing officer Ian Rowden, who has since left, said they helped sales of the Baconator sandwich.
The initial spots were popular with consumers, but some franchisees and the family of the late Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas were unhappy with the campaign. In announcing the new commercials, Wendy’s acknowledged that the controversial red wig campaign “has not sufficiently driven performance.”
The most recent red wig spot promoted the chain’s new 99-cent double cheeseburger, dubbed the Stack Attack.
The style of the ads was a departure for Wendy’s, which has experimented with several approaches since the memorable ads featuring Thomas stopped airing.
The new campaign “feels like Wendy’s again,” Anderson told the Associated Press.
Wendy’s has nearly 6,700 units worldwide.