Do People Actually Prefer Wendy's Fries Over McDonald's?
You're at home watching TV when a Wendy's commercial comes on. It's the one where an employee claims that Wendy's changed their French fry recipe to ensure that they're "hot and crispy" every time. Although Wendy's isn't exactly coming out and saying it, you get this subtle indication that Wendy's is implying that their fries are somehow much better than the competitors. Wendy's has been known to take "potshots" at other competitors, especially over social media and in its advertising.
Whether you think it's funny or just another example of corporations masquerading under the guise of quirky internet memes, there is no denying that Wendy's unique approach to social media and its behavior toward other fast-food competitors hasn't gotten it the views it wants. Today, for example, details how these "savage" tweets made from the Wendy's Twitter account are directed at not just companies like McDonald's or 7-Eleven, but also at completely random and unexpected companies and people.
In one particular example, Wendy's launched a campaign against fast-food juggernaut McDonald's — or more specifically, McDonald's fries – in which everything from tweets to billboards lambasted the Golden Arches' fries as being nothing but imitators of the supposed glory of the hot and crispy Wendy's French fry (via Entrepreneur). Aside from whether or not you think Wendy's is being funny, this does raise one question: Do people really like Wendy's "new" fries over McDonald's fries? Is there any truth to this statement, and where did such a bold claim come from?
Wendy's has made the claim people like their fries more
In one particular commercial regarding their new fries, Wendy's demonstrates how "other" fast-food competitors offer the consumer cold and soggy fries. Although no restaurants are specifically mentioned by name, one gets a strong hunch that places like McDonald's and KFC are the targets behind this campaign. But Wendy's isn't just making these vague jokes at McDonald's expense without any ammunition — or at least, that's what Wendy's says.
According to The Takeout, a Wendy's representative supposedly told them that the company had performed a "study" to see how its fries compare to McDonald's. A key detail in the study indicated "the 2:1 statistic taste preference is based on a national taste test done by an independent research company." This would mean that, should the study be believed, two people for every one person seem to like Wendy's fries better than McDonald's.
Of course, we simply can't take Wendy's word for it. While there is no doubt that some people genuinely enjoy the taste of Wendy's fries, for all we know, Wendy's study may be somewhat biased. A similar study conducted by Wendy's in 2011 also seemed to favor Wendy's fries over McDonald's (via The Columbus Dispatch). The only way we can back up Wendy's claims is to see what the public thinks. Do Wendy's fries really stand up and even outshine McDonald's famous shoestring fries?
There's still a debate over Wendy's vs McDonald's fries
Everyone has an opinion. With this in mind, we can argue that both Wendy's and McDonald's have popular fries, but it's hard to find a consensus that one overwhelmingly beats out the other. On Reddit, several users gave their opinions on the fry debate. While some clearly favored McDonald's, others argued that the changes Wendy's made to its fry recipe made it a closer contest.
"McDonald's fries are consistently good, overall," said one user, "whereas only CERTAIN Wendy's have good fries all the time, the rest are more hit than miss." Other users seemed to be in general agreement with this comment. "Wendy's fries are good, but Mcdonald's tastes a lot better," argued another user. One user, however, explained that while they used to "loathe" Wendy's fries in the past, Wendy's new "hot and crispy" fries gave them the advantage over McDonald's. Another user went on to state that went Wendy's fries were simply "better" than what McDonald's offered.
YouTuber Reed Reviews also shared the opinion that Wendy's new fries are better than McDonald's, noting that the main advantages of Wendy's fries are that its fries stay hotter and crisper longer than the McDonald's fries. TheReportofTheWeek's review of Wendy's fries focused on the "structure" of the fries and that they were indeed "crisp" without being dry. In the end, however, TheReportofTheWeek put another contender in the ring in this fight to be the best fast-food fry: Chick-fil-A.
But that's another story for another time.