Capitalizing on an opponent’s moment of weakness, a superpower spreads propaganda through social media. The American public doesn’t know who to trust in a conflict between incompatible ideologies. Yes, Burger King and Wendy’s are back to beefing on Twitter again.
A refresher for those uninitiated in fast-food history: Wendy’s discontinued its spicy chicken nuggets and was met with the sort of passion that tends to get mustered up exclusively by fried poultry.
https://twitter.com/_aaalidaaa/status/837383358359404548
Wendy’s may not have listened to fan feedback, but the Burger King was silently watching, monitoring, recording. On October 10, the quick-service restaurant announced their own take on spicy chicken nuggets, even buying billboards near Wendy’s locations to roll out the news.
https://twitter.com/frankiemarin_/status/917495158832107520
However, they’ve begun advertising the menu item with subterfuge as well. On October 12, Burger King promoted several of the most outraged tweets by spicy chicken nuggets fans, without comment.
It’s an oddly democratic move, spending marketing dollars to expand the reach of a completely organic, unedited message by average consumers. And in the brand-safety era, where many marketers are tightening their control over as many aspects of their messaging as possible, it’s certainly an unorthodox decision.
However, it seems to be working. Twitter users are picking up on the jab, and even egging the companies on. Only time will tell how Wendy’s will respond, but given the brand’s penchant for social media sass, expectations are high.