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Wendy's plans 700 kitchens expressly for food delivery apps
The 'ghost kitchens' are coming to the UK, US and Canada.
Wendy’s will deliver your next Baconator through DoorDash
Starting today, you'll be able to get Wendy's delivered right to your door as the chain is now partnering exclusively with DoorDash. At launch, the delivery service is available in 48 markets nationwide. Wendy's and DoorDash piloted the program earlier this year in Columbus, Ohio and Dallas, Texas and the restaurant chain said that the Baconator and Frosty were popular items during the test.
A hunger for chicken nuggets broke Twitter's retweet record
When Ellen DeGeneres' Oscars selfie (read: Samsung promo) broke the record for the most retweeted Twitter post ever, it raised a question: what, if anything could top that? Breaded chicken can, apparently. Twitter has confirmed that high school student Carter Wilkerson's tweet asking for help scoring free Wendy's chicken nuggets has broken the retweet record, racking up over 3.43 million shares as we write this. As with the Oscars photo, though, he didn't achieve this through purely grassroots support -- a corporate pile-on helped him reach the milestone.
Wendy's says over 1,000 locations affected by credit card breach
Fast food chain Wendy's announced in February that is was looking into a possible security breach. The franchise followed up in May confirming it found malware on its point-of-sale systems that was being used to nab credit card info. Stolen details were said to include including credit or debit card number, expiration date, cardholder verification value, and service code from less than 300 locations. Last month, the company provided and update that the investigation revealed the breach could be much worse due to a second cyberattack. Wendy's gave another update on the situation this week, disclosing that over 1,000 locations had systems where the malware was installed.
Wendy's looks into claims of a credit card data breach
If you grabbed a bite to eat at a Wendy's (you know, the other other big burger chain) using a credit or debit card, you might want to check your financial statements. The restaurant tells security guru Brian Krebs that it's investigating reports of a possible card data breach that let fraudsters go on spending sprees. It's not clear just how far-reaching the incident might have been, but Wendy's says that it did get reports of "unusual activity" on cards that had recently been used at "some" of its locations. Let's just hope the damage is limited -- the last thing Americans need is yet another large-scale intrusion that leaves millions of people vulnerable. [Image credit: AP Photo/Michael Dwyer]
Wendy's now lets you pay for a meal with its mobile app
Wendy's, home to a bunch of square burgers and Frosty, is following in Burger King's footsteps and embracing mobile payments. Now, you can use the Ohio company's app to pay for your purchase in most (but not all) of its locations in the US. Just like its Burger King counterpart, the app acts as sort of a digital wallet that generates six-digit codes you'll have to give to cashiers for payment. Wendy's, however, has regrettably left out one of the BK app's best features -- discounts and coupons. The fast food chain apparently decided to offer mobile payments in an effort to attract the younger, smartphone-obsessed set. Unfortunately, the app's limited features (you can't use it to call in a delivery, if you're wondering!) and lack of discounts as a perk make it a less convincing download than its competitors. But, hey, at least it can show nutritional values, so you don't scarf down a Baconator without knowing it has 940 calories.
Wendy's giving away 'Ultimate Game Room' for a buck
It's not just cholesterol and square burgers that Wendy's is serving up, but gaming gear as well. A tipster sends word that the "waaaay better than fast food" fast food chain is running an online promotion called '99¢ Bid for Value,' with an "Ultimate Game Room" to be won for $1. The catch? This is a "reverse auction," with visitors answering trivia questions in order to bid down a prize's price tag. The first auction-goer to reach 99¢ first wins the haul, with an Xbox 360, gaming chair and plasma television all up for grabs. A different prize is set to go up on the blocks every half hour starting at 11am EST today. The auction breaks down like this: 11:00 AM EST – 11:29 AM EST Microsoft - Xbox 360 Elite Console 11:30 AM EST – 11:59 AM EST Ultimate Game Chair - Ultimate Game Chair V3 12:00 PM EST – 12:29 PM EST Panasonic - 50" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV 12:30 PM EST – 12:59 PM EST Ultimate Game Room - Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Console, Ultimate Game Chair V3, Panasonic - 50" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV So set your watches, make with the clicking and good luck.
Wendy's becomes Wendy'z for Petz in-store promotion
It seems that while advertisers in the UK are discouraging gamers from eating fast food (or playing games, for that matter), US fast food chain Wendy's is partnering with Ubisoft to offer toys based on its uber-popular Petz series, according to Brandweek.com. During a five-week campaign in stores, customers picking up a Wendy's "Kids Meal" will receive one of a variety of Petz-themed items: a Petz Catz PC game, Petz Dogz PC game, a Catz balancer ball, a Dogz plush toy or a copy of the Petz-themed card game.Astute readers will note this isn't the first time Wendy's has partnered with a video game company for an in-store promotion, though this time around, we're betting Jack Thompson isn't getting up in arms over the less than inflammatory nature of the product involved.
Spyro heats up Wendy's Kids' Meals
Get it? He breathes fire-- and fire makes things hot! Now that Spyro: The Eternal Night on the Game Boy Advance (and on DS too) has us caring about the little purple dragon for the first time since ... ever, we find ourselves vaguely interested in these Wendy's Kids' Meal toys. Plus if we went looking for them, we could go eat deliciously unhealthy fast food and pretend it was Important Work. And we'd get a $5 coupon good for any version of the new Spyro game! This isn't the first excuse we've had to go to Wendy's in the name of Nintendology, either.You have your choice of a maze game, a spinning Sparx copter, a flapping Spyro, a checkers game, and ... a keychain. Nothing's more fun for kids than organizing keys! [Via Joystiq]
Random Spyro toys invade Wendy's kids meals
Go on, admit it. You're with friends here. When fast food chains run video game promotions, including game-related toys with their child-sized value meals, you order an extra meal for yourself just to get the toy. Or perhaps you're more brazen, buying the toy outright to add to your collection. It's perfectly fine to admit you have a problem. We won't judge.If so, you'll be happy to know that Wendy's is hitching its Kids' Meals onto the coattails of Krome Studios and Amaze Entertainment's The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, offering a set of five toys based on the latest in the miniature dragon's trilogy of games. The trinkets run the usual gamut of weirdness, including a Spyro-themed game of checkers and a Spyro keychain, which simply pushes the notion of "toy" beyond all measure of credulity. As pack-in freebies go, these fall well below that of the competition, however random seems to be a running theme with Wendy's these days. To sweeten the deal, each Kids' Meal also includes a $5 off GameStop coupon for any version of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, though given the painful experience it was to play the last game this is simply not enough to make us go through the drive thru.
USB thumb drive gets a clever disguise
You may think that this is just a normal tiny Wiimote with a USB connector sticking out of it. Fooled you! If you can believe it, this is actually a USB thumb drive.Reader Ryan Kruska put his existing thumb drive into a stylish cover made from one of the Wii toys from Wendy's. Then, because he is a kind and generous soul, he created a Flickr gallery with step-by-step instructions. We'd love to see what else you guys can do with the Nintendo-themed kids' meal toys. It's like Wiimote hacking, but much less technical, and without as much financial investment! Also it doesn't do as much. But other than those things and probably some other things, exactly the same.
The low-key swag of the Nintendo Media Summit
Free stuff is one of the many reasons we wish we had gotten to go to the Nintendo Media Summit. Like most industry events, those in the press who were lucky enough to attend also walked out with swag. Game|Life's Chris Kohler took this picture of his bounty: not an epic E3-sized haul by any means, but it includes some exclusive items, like the giant Wii bottle (he already covered the joke) and the light-up Wiimote keychain. Attendees also got a free Wii Points card and a Wendy's giftcard, so they can download Blazing Lazers and live Burgertime. By which we mean "eat burgers," not "assemble giant burgers by walking on them while avoiding animated food."
Wendy's and Nintendo team up to give away more than just cheap toys
We figured the Wii-themed toys that Wendy's were giving away would be the last we've heard of the union between the two, then Jack Thompson comes in and tries to go after the fast-food chain. Now, the two have come back together as Wendy's and Nintendo announced a promotion to give purchasers of the new Vanilla Frosty Float a chance at winning a free Wii and other prizes. The two have come together to give away a total of 800 systems, placing a code on each cup of the ordered treat that can be taken to this website and input for the chance to win a free system, or other prizes that include Wii Points cards and games. This new promotion is planned to be advertised in-stores, as well as through national advertising, presumably through radio, television and print. The promotion will run from now until June 30th, which doesn't give your chances of winning much time.
Wendy's giving away 800 Wiis for sucking down floats
When they found out that kids are going crazy over a game console that encourages waggling of the arms, fast food company bigwigs probably had a coronary. Well, that could have also been caused by their outrageous blood pressure and clogged arteries, but we digress. The folks at Wendy's have already partnered with Nintendo to give away some tchotchkes, and now they're looking to promote their new Frosty Float with a Wii giveaway. Here's how it works: every $1.99 Frosty Float purchased will contain a special code that can be entered at www.FrostyFloat.com for a chance to win one of 800 Wii consoles, 800 Wii Points cards (in delicious 2000 point denominations, of course), and 800 Wii games ("specific game determined by sponsor"). Considering that the Frosty Float packs a walloping 400 calories, it's going to take an awful lot off arm waggling to work each one of these off. That's what business folks call a win-win.
Jack Thompson goes after Wendy's
The ever-antagonistic Jack Thompson is up to his usual business of publicly decrying anything remotely connected to video games. It doesn't get much more remote than Wendy's. According to GamePolitics, Jack sent an angry email to the CEO of the company about their association with the Wii.As we know, Manhunt 2 will be released on the Wii. And as we also know, Wendy's has begun giving away promotional Wii-themed toys. It might be kind of hard to tell from the picture, but look closely and you'll see that the toys have nothing to do with Manhunt 2.We may only be amateur logicians, but in addition to the inaccurate claim that the promotion of the Wii is an indirect endorsement of Manhunt 2, we think we see a hasty generalization here: one violent game doesn't mean that the entire set of Wii games (which contains the games promoted here) is violent, or that the Wii is a violent platform. Feel free to correct our analysis in the comments. We could always use more logic in our discussions of Mr. Thompson.
Wii toys served hot off the grill
Fast food chain Wendy's plans to pack its Kids' Meals with Wii-related toys soon. The new knickknacks don't look like they're anything to fawn over, but that miniaturized and muddied Excite Truck might make a nice addition to your collection of Micro Machines and Hot Wheels racers. Truthfully, we've never been partial to the restaurant's square-shaped burger patties or its bland french fries. Wendy's chicken nuggets, however, are like the real-world equivalent to Narnia's turkish delight. Families have been betrayed and wars have been set into motion over these bits of meat. The fact that we can get a pocket-sized Wii remote with these nuggets pretty much settles our schedule for where we're eating lunch at when this promotion goes into effect.[Via Infendo]
