The Discontinued Wendy's Dipping Sauce That Caused A Legal Battle

Dipping condiments are often a beloved part of the fast food experience, and it can be heartbreaking to see your favorite sauces discontinued. Such was the case with Wendy's S'Awesome sauce, a smoky, tangy, creamy, and slightly spicy dip the chain debuted in 2017 alongside a shorter-lived line of chicken tenders.

While the sauce was an immediate hit, it soon ran into legal troubles. A much smaller company, Jaymo's Sauces, claimed to have used the name "S'Awesome" for a proprietary sauce mixture two years earlier, in 2015. When Wendy's debuted its S'Awesome sauce with a World Series ad, customers of Jaymo's Sauces called and emailed the company, asking if it or its recipes had been bought by Wendy's. Additionally, "Mr. Shefts also received inquiries from his business partners expressing concern about the long-term viability of Jaymo's and its 'S'Awesome' sauce because of Wendy's use of Jaymo's 'S'Awesome' trademark," read the lawsuit.

At that time, over 900 grocery stores across 15 states already carried Jaymo's version. Although Jaymo's sent Wendy's a cease and desist over the name, Wendy's kept its own S'Awesome sauce on the menu as a permanent item and even incorporated it into special editions of its bacon cheeseburger and french fries. With its cease and desist largely ignored, Jaymo's sued Wendy's in 2019, alleging trademark infringement.

What Happened To Wendy's S'Awesome Sauce?

Despite having a product marketed as "S'Awesome" before Wendy's, a judge found that Jaymo's trademark claim was insufficient, partly because the company had only secured a legal trademark to the term just ten days before filing suit. The judge granted Wendy's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and the case was closed.

Although the Jaymo's lawsuit made some waves, it is likely not why Wendy's discontinued its S'Awesome sauce. Packets of the sauce were spotted at Wendy's restaurants as late as October 2021, about two years after Wendy's won the trademark lawsuit. It is possible that discontinuing S'Awesome sauce was to avoid some other kind of legal action, though a more likely explanation is that it fell victim to a reshuffling of the Wendy's menu.

Just before S'Awesome sauce left the building, Wendy's discontinued a creamy sriracha dip and debuted ghost pepper ranch. Though the loss of the sriracha dip was controversial at first — as was the removal of S'Awesome sauce — ghost pepper ranch has proven to be a popular condiment at the fast-food chain; it checks many of the same creamy, savory, spicy boxes as both discontinued dips.