Posted on 06/11/2006 12:55:28 PM PDT by billorites
Wendy's International Inc. (NYSE:WEN - news), the No. 3 U.S. hamburger chain, on Friday said it would remove the term "Biggie" from its french fries and drinks, switching to the well known terms small, medium and large.
However, the new designations may confuse some diners who are used to such sizing at other restaurants.
At rival McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD - news), the largest burger chain, a 32 ounce soft drink is designated a large. At Wendy's, a 32 ounce drink will now be called medium, instead of Biggie.
Wendy's is also adding a 42-ounce soft drink -- the equivalent of 3-1/2 cans of soda -- as its large. The large drink will come in a more durable, portable plastic cup that fits in a car cup holder for diners on-the-go.
"We felt like the Biggie designation is not what most customers were used to. Most people were used to small, medium and large," a spokesman said.
Wendy's had used the term Biggie since the early 1990s.
Previously, Wendy's sold a 16 ounce soft drink as a small, a 20 ounce soft drink as medium and a 32 ounce soft drink as Biggie. Now, a 20 ounce drink is a small, a 32 ounce drink is a medium and the new 42 ounce drink is a large. The company will still sell a 16 ounce drink on its 99 cent value menu.
At McDonald's, a 16 ounce drink is called a small, a 21 ounce drink is a medium and a 32 ounce drink is a large.
McDonald's famously removed the "Super Size" option from its combo meals after the 2004 release of the film "Super Size Me" -- a documentary in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's fare for a month and tracked his increasingly poor health.
Kids' sized drinks at both chains are 12 ounces.
Under Wendy's new program, the sizes of its combo meals will be small, medium and large. A medium combo will cost 49 cents more than a small, and a large combo will cost 89 cents more than a small.
Customers can still substitute a bottle of Dasani water for a soft drink, and items such as a side salad, chili or yogurt and granola for french fries, regardless of the combo size.
Wendy's has four different sizes of french fries, ranging from the 3.2 ounce kids' size to a 6.7 ounce large size. At McDonald's, a small fries is 2.6 ounces, medium is 4 ounces and large is 6 ounces.
The new sizing terminology, which Wendy's is promoting in stores, comes just a day after the chain said it would virtually eliminate artery-clogging trans fats in its fries and breaded chicken items.
Wendy's restaurants in the United States and Canada will switch to a new blend of corn and soy oil for french fries and breaded chicken items starting in August. The move will reduce trans fats in fries to just zero to 0.5 grams, depending on serving sizes, while all of the breaded chicken will have zero grams of trans fats.
So now we lose the Biggies. They are DESTROYING our culture!!!
We shouldn't stand for even that. We should insist they start each of their ads with "Look, you shouldn't even come to our restaurants, you should be eating vegetables, as if you eat here your ass will get huge just before it falls off from cancer--BUT if you DO insist on coming here, we'd like to humbly suggest..."
First they came for the cigarettes, and I didn't care since I don't smoke.
Then they came for the cheeseburgers...
I think it's due more to higher stress levels and a lack of exercise.
Boo. I liked getting the biggie sized fries at Wendy's. This is the only fast food burger joint I ever go to anymore.
I don't care about the ridiculously enormous sized drinks. I could never drink the whole thing anyway. It goes flat by the time I drink about half of it. I'd rather just get a 16oz bottle of coke with the combo meal.
FAttie FUnnies?
Now they serve that square cardboard stuff and call it a burger.
Did they change 'em? They'd always been 100% beef patties stamped out in the stores daily from fresh beef. No longer?
As to the menu change, sounds like simple semantical exercise to me.
I think I should start a fast food chain that actually claims the title of most calorific / sugarific food. Make adds about choice and juicy burgers and watch the cash roll in.
Aside from the attack on choice, there is the fallacy that no one ever orders a large anything to share or save for later. On a long drive, it's nice to have a 44 ounce caffinated beverage to sip on over the course of several hours between stops. And hard to believe as it sounds, some folks actually buy a large fry and share them. Or gets a 12 inch sub for lunch (since it's only a dollar more) and saves half for dinner.
Well, my mother always made me eat everything on my plate, and she didnt exactly cook according to any low-fat cook book.
Where was the FedGov then to protect my health? When will congress step in and outlaw mom's cooking across the nation for the sake of America's children????!!!!!
Look, we've all agreed a Nanny State is a good thing. Don't be surprised when it reaches all the way down to the drive-thru window.
They cook all the juice out of them. They are dry like cardboard.
So, when I order a large Frosty at Wendy's, will I be getting 42 ounces? Or will large still mean different things even inside of Wendy's?
Word...
My guess is that depends upon the store and the time of day. They're not supposed to be doing that. They still use the "dried" burgers to make their chili.
I have always wondered how they come up with those numbers. I mean is it 42 ounces without ice or with ice. because if it is with ice then doesn't that mean its a 21 ounce glass?
Dr. Scratchnsniff: I would like a small soda please.
Clerk: uh, we don't have small.
Dr. Scratchnsniff: Well What do you have?
Clerk: We have large, giant and mondo.
Dr. Scratchnsniff: Well, wouldn't a large be a small then?
Clerk: Uhhh, I'd have to ask my manager.
It's the semantics that drive me crazy. Try ordering a small pizza at Dominos. They only have medium and large, which are as large as a traditional small and medium, respectively, but priced like a traditional medium and large (I only order Dominos with a coupon).
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