Netflix and Wendy’s Team Up to Promote Wednesday Season 2 With Spooky Menu
- In a symbiotic marketing initiative, Netflix and Wendy’s will promote the Wednesday series’ second season with themed foods.
- Mysterious, spicy dipping sauces will accompany the Wednesday meal, which will debut Aug. 4.
- U.S. Wendy’s app users also may participate in an interactive Wednesday-related game for a chance to win $10,000.
Two world-famous pigtailed characters, Wendy’s cheery, red-haired mascot and spooky Wednesday Addams, have been cast in a shared promotion of the fast-food brand and Netflix’s hit streaming series Wednesday. Debuting Aug. 4 nationwide at participating Wendy’s locations, Wendy’s Meal of Misfortune will focus on four spicy sauces called the Dips of Dread. The zippy condiments will accompany Rest in 10-Piece Nuggets, Cursed & Crispy fries and a small Raven’s Blood Frosty, Restaurant News reported. The limited-time menu items are a nod to the full-of-woe Wednesday, which will air Season 2, Episode 1, starting Aug. 6.
Wendy’s is attempting to boost sales as well as, in particular, woo the Gen Z and millennial customers who have been largely responsible for making Wednesday a pop culture phenomenon, according to RestaurantDive.com. (For those who haven’t previously viewed the show, it follows the original Addams Family character, Wednesday Addams – portrayed by Jenna Ortega – during her student years at Nevermore Academy. Addams’ adventures take twists and turns as she tries to master her maturing psychic ability, stop a string of murders and solve a mystery involving her parents, per IMDB.com.)
What’s in the Meal?
Each spice-centric meal will be served with two of these four dipping sauces: You Can’t Hyde, This Will Sting, Grave Mistake or Nowhere to Woe. Customers don’t get to specify their sauces, which come in a packet labeled with a question mark. “You must surrender to your destiny,” Restaurant News stated in its article. Customers will be able to use a Spoon of Gloom to scoop into their Raven’s Blood Frostys, which contain a swirl of dark cherry. The meal will be available outside the United States, too – in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Guam; the Wednesday menu items will arrive in Canada on Aug. 11.
As part of the cross-promotion, the Wendy’s chain has substituted its smiling red-haired mascot for the scowling, raven-haired protagonist portrayed by Jenna Ortega on its social channels and in press materials, RestaurantDive.com reported. The statement “Pain is my recipe” accompanies an illustration of Wednesday Addams during the marketing campaign. All of the foods come in Wednesday-themed packaging in purple and black, the character’s favorite colors. In particular, the packaging features an illustration showing Wednesday Addams’ white-collared outfit at Nevermore Academy along with text reading, “There’s Nothing Happy About This Meal.”
Lindsay Radkoski, U.S. chief marketing officer for the fast-food franchise, said, “Wendy’s and Wednesday are both cultural icons famous for challenging convention with wit and a bit of sass.” The partnership is “a match made in dark, dry-witted heaven,” Radkoski added. Wednesday Addams herself chimed in about the new menu items, saying, “Normally I’d be against this kind of capitalistic corporate synergy. But when the fast-food-slinging pigtailed provocateur said I could do whatever I wanted to her customers, I couldn’t resist.”
Chance to Win $10,000
In addition to the Meal of Misfortune, U.S. customers are offered the opportunity to win $10,000 by helping Wendy dodge the perils of normalcy with an interactive game experience, “Escape from Wednesday’s Woe.” The game is available exclusively via the U.S. Wendy’s app.
With the app involvement, Wendy’s hopes to boost mobile orders, noted RestaurantDive.com, adding the assessment that, “For Wendy’s, tapping into a trendy cultural moment could help to turn around business in a challenging consumer environment. The chain’s first-quarter same-store sales, an important measure of restaurant health, were down 2.8% year over year in the U.S.” According to Statista.com, the Wendy’s Co. has experienced highs and lows for 15 years but revenue grew last year to a total of approximately $2.3 billion. Yahoo Finance reported that Wendy’s revenue in 2023 was $2.18 billion.
The Wendy’s Co. has more than 7,000 restaurants worldwide. Founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas, Wendy’s is known for its iconic square hamburger patties made of fresh beef. Wendy’s supports the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which seeks to dramatically increase the number of adoptions of children waiting in North America’s foster care system.
