Plans are back and restaurant chain Wendy’s announced its restaurant opening in Reading with its trademark branded humour on its UK twitter account @wendysuk. The brand tweeted: "We have arrived! So it's time to do what you Brits do best and form an orderly queue.”

The confident tone which kicked off its UK social media presence extended to a hefty dose of brand trolling, by tweeting:  ‘Britains just got a new favourite redhead. #SorryNotSorryRonald.’

Wendy’s enters the UK market at a time when a growing swathe of consumers are simply desperate for a meal they don’t have to clean up after eating. While the pandemic and lockdown have had a devastating impact on much of the hospitality industry; fast-food has been particularly resilient. A trend reflected in the growing number of international brands seeing the current crisis as a moment to invest in the market.

The return to the UK marks a U-turn for the brand, which had pulled out of the market  in 2000 to concentrate on the US market. Founded in 1969, like rival McDonald’s Wendy’s is a franchisee business. It has over 6,700 outlets in 30 countries across the world.

Plans a back: an opportunity for investment

The US burger chain’s plans for a nationwide roll out in the UK are being supported by VMLY&R which has worked on the new brand platform, ‘All Beef. No Bull’. The positioning underlines Wendy’s fresh-food proposition as none of its products are pre-prepared or frozen (apart from the obligatory milk shakes). 

Wendy’s is the second biggest burger chain in the US and has set its sights on ‘challenging category standards’ when it comes to fresh food. The brand has also successfully challenged these standards when it comes to marketing. 

Known not only for its confident, punchy social media tone; but for being on the cutting edge when it comes to capitalising on the huge power of gaming. Notably through its ground-breaking ‘Keep Fortnite Fresh’ campaign which saw the creation of a new game mode called Food Fight, amassing more than 1.5 million minutes of gamers time in destroying in-game freezers. A creative way to bring home its message of fresh food to a fresh generation of consumers.

The brand is now looking to bring this fresh thinking, alongside its flagship products such as the flagship’ Baconator’ to the UK. 

Tony Barr, Senior International Marketing Director APMEA and UK at Wendy’s said the brand has built a specific local platform “to speak with our new customers in a refreshingly honest, challenging and cheeky way.” 

While Laurent Simon, Chief Creative Officer at VMLY&R promised to “keep bringing more sass to the streets” as the brand continues to challenge the UK category norms. In the wake of such a challenging time for the industry and consumers alike; a challenger brand coming back on the menu in the UK is cause for celebration. Make way for the sass.