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February 08, 2008

It's better than good?

Wig A while back it was decided that the men in red wigs weren't the right brand direction for Wendy's, so they scraped it. Now, as recently as a week ago, Wendy's new spots from kirshenbaum bond + partners have begun to air on television (and are now on Wendy's web site, too). If you haven't seen them yet, they're quite the departure from the previous red wig campaign (which I was fond of). The reviews haven't been so glorious so far, but this is the first effort, maybe they'll turn a corner.

My question is the new tag line, which is "Waaaay better than fast food. It's Wendy's." Is it me, or is that a bit similar to Sonic's, "It's not just good... it's Sonic good." Not that it's a bad thing to copy something that's working, but I think it's a bit too close.

What do you think? Is there room for two fast food chains to have similar tag lines?

Posted by SethyG on February 08, 2008 at 01:29 PM | Permalink
Categories: Advertising

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Comments

Sure, they're close in terms of actual words but they're making two different points.

Sonic: Sonic good is better than regular good. Implied is that that makes Sonic's food better, but they're not going to come out and say otherwise.

Wendy's: Wendys food is better than regular fast food.

They're both saying their stuff is better, but who isn't nowadays?

Posted by:Jeff | February 08, 2008 at 02:46 PM

The sentiments are the same, but the lines are different enough that it doesn't bug me. And there's clearly no similarity in the actual spots.

Posted by:American Copywriter | February 08, 2008 at 02:53 PM

I think they're similar in that they make qualitative comparisons, but Sonic is a comparison with "good" while Wendy's is comparison of quality within the category.Plus, as pointed out above, they don't sound or feel similar to me.

Posted by:captain flummox | February 09, 2008 at 08:53 AM

Who cares? The new spots aren't nearly as interesting as the red hair spots. Complete parity claims. (btw-why does everyone in the new spots unfold their wrapper like they are made of precious metals?)

I just came back from Mardi Gras and those red wig costumes were everywhere. Think Burger King would run away from a campaign that sold hundreds (if not more) king masks for Halloween?

It's branding people! If you wanna move more hamburgers tomorrow, make more coupons. If you want to build a brand and loyalty for years, go back to the red hair!

Posted by:Ben Thoma | February 09, 2008 at 09:56 PM

Not a big fan of the new spots. I know we're all trying to get people to buy stuff but I REAAALLLLLY hate it when the characters do the selling. I miss the weird dude with the red wig.

Posted by:scott | February 11, 2008 at 01:40 AM

Considering that the ads look and sound like something the CMO's wife and kids concepted and produced on a Saturday afternoon, it would not surprise me at all if they're "borrowing" the tagline from Sonic.

I know the ads are meant to be straightforward and sales-oriented. The need to be straightforward does not excuse bad writing and bad production. There are straightforward and sales-oriented ads that have won OneShow pencils.

Posted by:booooo | February 11, 2008 at 03:50 PM

This is a poor substitute for the red wig campaign. It looks like it was slapped together in an afternoon. Once Wendy mentioned Antarctic Cows that was strike 3. Strikes 1 and 2 were talking Wendy. And I agree with Ben - branding is a big deal these days, and it takes more than selling square patties to generate it.

Posted by:Patrick | February 12, 2008 at 09:58 AM

They are too close, but the Sonic tag is, to borrow a poorly written phrase, waaaay better than Wendy's. Sonic's line assumes you get what they're talking about. I'm sure there are more than a few people out there who are still trying to figure out what the heck "sonic good" means. The Wendy's line just beats you over the head with their claim and does so with the blunt shillelagh of bad copy.

And the spots seem like bland rip-offs of Steak 'n' Shake's spots from Young & Laramore.

Posted by:Jason Fox | February 13, 2008 at 03:12 PM

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