Mr.
Wendy - The fictional "unofficial spokesman" for the Wendy's
fast-food hamburger chain who first appeared in February, 2004.
Of course, the "official" Mr. Wendy was
Dave Thomas, the founder
of Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers who appeared as himself in a variety of TV spots
to advertise the company's products for 13 years beginning in
1989. Thomas died in January 2002, and two years later the folks at Wendy's decided to
hire actor Roger Eschbacher to play a character named
Mr. Wendy, a man
so uncontrollably enthusiastic about Wendy's products, that he
appointed himself as the company's unofficial spokesman with a mission
to proselytize Wendy's products nationwide.
Trying to create a new ad campaign
with the likes of Mr. Wendy does have its challenges,
however. Charles Frazer, a professor
of advertising at the University of Oregon said "choosing a new
pitchman for any company is 'always risky' but making Mr. Wendy
something of an odd duck helps keep the character from being
perceived by the public as a replacement for Thomas, who began
Wendy's in 1969 in Columbus and named the chain after one of his
daughters." (Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News 02/19/2004 p.1)
Don Calhoon, Wendy's executive
vice president of marketing reassures consumers that "There will
only be one Dave." and that Wendy's hopes consumers won't
compare Mr. Wendy to Mr. [Dave Thomas] but rather accept the new
guys
loveable, quirky nature and love for the Wendy's product as an
homage to the late founder's love of the product, as well.
In the first of several spots created by Interpublic Group's
MvCann-Erickson Worldwide of New York ad agency, the Mr. Wendy character stood at the very doorsteps of the
company's Dublin, Ohio corporate headquarters despite a
cease-and-desist order mandating that he stop calling himself
their unofficial spokesman. The ad ends with two executives
chasing Mr. Wendy from the premises.
William Shatner & Mr Wendy
In another spot, while
attending a party, Mr. Wendy (along with his wife
who brings a cake) enters with samples of Wendy's spinach chicken
salad for all the guests which included actor William Shatner.
"These salads are fabulous," Shatner says, between bites. "Do
you work for Wendy's?" to which Mr. Wendy replies, "Well,
unofficially." A perplexed Shatner asks, "What does that mean?"
"It's complicated," an embarrassed Mrs. Wendy responds.
Mr. Wendy's antics continued in another commercial as he used a
bullhorn at a local mall food court to tout Wendy's freshly made
salads. "Put the fork down and step away from the
salad," he bellows. "Salad's not supposed to be brown. Go to
Wendy's." His long-suffering wife snatches the bullhorn from her
overzealous husband and promises onlookers that the incident
will never happen again.
At times, Mr. Wendy was so passionate about his crusade to
enlighten the public about Wendy's that he even woke his
neighbor up late at night as he shouted his message from their
front lawn - before being chanced away by a small but determined
guard dog.
In each ad, Mr. Wendy questions why people should be subjected
to "lousy" food when they have Wendy's nearby and open late at
night, as well. Whenever anyone ask "You with Wendy's?" Mr.
Wendy responds "Not officially." The tagline for the commercial
were "It's better here."
"Hey wouldn't it be great to go for lunch with your parents
after the game, spend some time together...Like at Wendy's?"
Not everybody liked the Mr. Wendy character. One "blog" on the internet reported "If Mr. Wendy is
anything, he's creepy. That's right, I said it. Mr. Wendy freaks
me out. If any other person in the world was masquerading as an
umpire just to get closer to my kids, I'm sure I would probably
beat the hell out of him and call the cops." And the lyrics of a
parody by Phil Nelson sung to the classic rock song
"Windy" by the Association reveals more negative sentiments for
the "unofficial spokesman".
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Mr. Wendy
I used to like the old Wendy's ads
Dave Thomas doing funny things
But when they had to find a new spokesman
They just found Mr. Wendy
Even the commercials without Dave were cool
I really liked the svimvear one
And the old "Where's the beef" ones were catchy
But I don't like Mr. Wendy
Mr. Wendy is annoying
But he's Wendy's new king
What was Wendy thinking
Those commercials stink
Those commercials stink
They're tripping if they think he is funny
Their new commercials are really cheesy
They were desperate on the spur of the moment
They should get rid of Mr. Wendy
They should get rid of Mr. Wendy
(Found at http://www.amiright.com) |
