569
submitted 9 months ago by vegeta@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Wendy’s has spoken to its manager after suggestions that it plans to introduce “surge pricing” to its menu received a decidedly frosty response this week, with the company scrambling to clarify that it has no intention of making itself the Uber of fast-food chains.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] nucleative@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago

I think this was a publicity stunt. We'd all just about completely forgot Wendy's exists... So they come out with this wild idea, let it float for a couple of days and then cancel it. Smooth PR move.

[-] aceshigh@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

Bad pr is better than no pr?

[-] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 9 months ago

Did people forget Wendys existed? They have one of the biggest brand engagements on social media of all time.

[-] nucleative@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

There's no Wendy's near me, and I don't follow their social media. I pretty much forgot they existed for a few years until I heard about this pricing idea.

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Oh well if you forgot about them, then everyone else must have too.

[-] nucleative@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Well this is the first time I thought about them in a long time so... This stunt worked

[-] guacupado@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

They have funny memes that get posted on Facebook but I don't know anyone that says "Man I love Wendy's"

[-] orbitz@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

That was my first thought after the reversal (probably slower than many, it seems like such a stupid idea) yup cheap publicity. Mean who would risk going to Wendys if the price could go up while in line?

In the end there'd probably be little surge pricing because people would avoid any hours it might hit. If I am hitting up Wendys I am not keen on paying more, especially since Taco Time is in the same parking lot, McDonald's across the street and a KFC within a block. To be fair I can't remember the last time I wanted to hit up a Wendys anyways, Taco Time is way better for the same trip.

Though I've thought about Wendys more, with these two articles and wrote a reply, than in years....so I guess marketing works.

[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I'm so jealous you have Taco Time... crispy burritos, stuffed mexi fries, surprise flavor empanadas... sigh. The closest one is eight and a half hours from me. 😩 I'd pay surge prices for Taco Time.

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 4 points 9 months ago

Totally agree. In what world would even the most out-of-touch executive think customers would be happy about this? Not to mention the logistical nightmare it would cause when the guy in front of you in line is paying a higher/lower price or the price changes halfway through waiting in line, or the price changes in the middle of your order.

It was a really dumb idea that couldn't have gone anywhere, but was useful to drum up a little controversy and publicity.

[-] Acters@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Yeah, surge pricing is meant to discourage usage as there is too much demand. Most restaurants will never have this problem. One exception I found was the unveiling of the new popular restaurant here in my area that had 24 hour service times. They eventually had to change it to close a few hours at night for staff to clean and restock. The change was 3 days after grand opening. Drive thru was so full it reached the big streets and the highways off ramp. It was dumb af. I liked the closing idea more than surge pricing.

In fact they could do a happy hour specials that mimic this surge pricing but the advertising will be to highlight lower price times. which theoretically should act the same as surge pricing by making times of high demand "normal"/higher prices.

this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2024
569 points (96.3% liked)

News

23634 readers
2018 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS