UPDATE: Sept. 12, 2019, 11:08 a.m. EDT As of March 2017, Brown no longer manages Wendy's social media.
Newsflash: Not all heroes wear capes — some, like Amy Brown, manage social media for fast food restaurants, instead.
The latest tweets from @tswendywilliams. And perhaps Wendy’s Twitter account is that game-changer. Like Skynet becoming sentient, Wendy’s Twitter recently awoke and then quickly developed a taste for humans. You can only imagine how quickly it grew tired of their stupid questions. Wendy's Launches Twitter War With Dunkin' Donuts. By Adam Barnhardt - October 20, 2020 06:09 pm EDT. Share 0 Comments. The Wendy's Twitter account has developed quite the cheeky reputation, and once a year, on National Roast Day, the burger chain serves up an extra dose of sass while poking fun at its competitors. The latest tweets from @tswendywilliams.
Now there are typical fast food restaurants whose social media teams focus solely on answering customer inquiries and promoting food, but the official Wendy's Twitter account — an unexpected beacon of light in 2017 — has shown us that brands have the potential to do so much more.
After Twitter users recently discovered the account was epically clapping back to unsatisfied customers on the platform, the curious burger-lovers of the world began to wonder who exactly the masterminds behind the lol-worthy and seemingly unfiltered tweets are.
SEE ALSO: Wendy's Twitter account still has (fresh, never frozen) beef with the world
Turns out, Brown — who has been working for Wendy's since 2012 andmight just be one of the coolest damn people on the planet — along with her community response team of two other witty Wendy's employees responsible for the hilarity.
Wendys Twitter Roast Day 2021
After learning that Brown was behind the tweets that had the power to lift us up from darkness, we knew it was time to investigate.
Before Mashable even spoke with Wendy's prodigal tweeter, we could tell she was a straight up joy. On her website, she sells herself with an approach that can be defined as a cross between a putdown and a humble brag, calling out her haters by acknowledging her own ' social media skills and ' decisions. Essentially, if she were a song, she'd be TSwift's IDGAF banger, 'Shake It Off.'
You guys, whomever is running the @Wendys twitter right now is killing it 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
— Jessica Bates (@jesserker) January 5, 2017
Brown, who also runs an and a in her spare time, told Mashable over the phone that while she's not always the one responding on the account, she was indeed responsible for the glorious tweet exchange that put Wendy's social media in the spotlight once again.
The fresh tweets that started it all
What makes Wendy's tweets stand out is the fact that its community response team doesn't play by any of those unspoken social media rules concerned with brand etiquette. This became abundantly clear to the world on Jan. 3, when Wendy's Twitter account kicked off the new year with its first digital mic drop.
To recap: After Twitter user, Thuggy-D had the nerve to question Wendy's 'fresh, never frozen' beef slogan, Brown's comedic wrath was unleashed, and Thuggy-D (along with the rest of us) didn't stand a chance.
.@arb plz tell me you did this pic.twitter.com/S21oFOZwXk
— Katy Wellhousen (@KatyWellhousen) January 3, 2017
Brown had officially emerged from hibernation and in doing so, awakened a connection between fast food joint and customer we never knew we were missing in life.
every january i emerge from hibernation to make my One Big Tweet from the corporate account. see u guys in 2018.
— amy (@arb) January 3, 2017
Following the epic exchange, the account updated its Twitter bio to let the world know just how seriously Wendy's takes its jokes and its food.
Wendy's VP of Advertising, Brandon Rhoten, hired sass master Amy four and a half years ago 'after trolling her on Twitter.' Typicallllll.
Since Wendy's identifies its voice as a 'challenger with charm,' banter and pushing people a bit on social media is totally acceptable. 'The intent of the social media team is to represent the brand’s voice as best as they can,' Rhonten told Mashable. 'When folks say, 'roast me,' we’re going to have fun with that.'
Despite the ~frosty~ approach, Rhoten explained that Wendy's representative is still an eight-year-old girl with pigtails, so at the end of the day there have to be some boundaries.
Wendy's tweets may have a Brown-esque bite to them, but the social team has nothing but love for their fans — a quality that earns them respect even from temporary rivals. Thuggy-D, for example, shared his #respect on Twitter for the brand that destroyed him.
@NHride hey you're alright man 👊
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 5, 2017
Though Brown admitted she feels a little bad about the unexpected attention Thuggy-D has been getting following the exchange, she said she and Wendy's are glad to see he's taken the humor and viral fame in his stride.
A deeper look at Wendy's sassy social media strategy
What makes Brown's responses so boss is the fact that they don't sound robotic. When customers reach out with a complaint about a soggy burger, Wendy's does not follow a classic, 'Sorry to hear that, please call *insert phone number here* for more assistance' PR cleanup formula. Rather, the team creates personalized, thought-provokingly witty responses that sound like they came from your sassy best friend.
Whether they're honoring a request to rap, shutting down people who name-drop fast food competitors or creating Twitter bios for lazy fans, the account is both refreshing and entertaining as hell.
@SamJJShawcross We will cut you some slack because we see that you're from a country that doesn't have Wendy's but also WOW NO.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 5, 2017
@niickba Barbecue and ranch, ranch and sweet and sour, dipping chicken nuggets, hour after hour.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 5, 2017
@Sav_Shadow Our bars are hot like Spicy Chicken, grab a spoon cause the Frosty thick and, grab a seat cause these rhymes are slick.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 5, 2017
@AliAlTuhafi The monkeys are busy writing Shakespeare. We are a team of advanced pop culture robots
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 5, 2017
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 5, 2017
The team is constantly dishing out snappy comebacks in the form of grade A pop-culture references from television shows like Spongebob Squarepants and The Office, relevant GIFs and serious knowledge of the Wendy’s menu.
'Between the three of us we’ve got kind of a wide variety of interests and it's very authentic,' Brown said, explaining that if fans want to know what Wendy’s thinks about something, Wendy's will most definitely let them know.
Where has Wendy's Twitter account been all our lives?
Though some people are just tuning into Wendy's sass strategy, Brown and team have been having a blast with the fast food chain's social account for years.
Brown told Mashable she's also responsible for composing the tweet that sparked one of the biggest battles of 2016: Burger King vs. Wendy's.
5 for $4, because 5 is better than 4. pic.twitter.com/BZe8JFbKjm
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) January 21, 2016
After Burger King challenged Wendy's 4 for $4 deal by dubbing its own 5 for $4 deal superior, Wendy's was not having it. When asked what Wendy's had to offer, Brown replied with a sizzling hot burn: 'edible food.' Bow down to your burn queen.
@bguerns13 edible food
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 22, 2016
And in case that's not extreme enough for you, back in January 2016, Brown literally handed the Twitter account over to a 99-year-old woman as a birthday present.
'Grandma Eileen,' Brown fondly recalled, explaining that the woman’s grandson reached out and told the team that every time he flew out to Seattle to visit his grandmother they went to Wendy’s.
Brown and her team decided to fly to Bellevue, Washington and throw a party for Grandma Eileen at Wendy’s in Washington, where they had fans ask her questions about life live on Periscope. Talk about unconventional.
Making mom proud, one sassy comment at a time
Brown has a freaking mad job and she's clearly killing it, but she told Mashable that sass wasn't always kind to her. Growing up, Brown admits she used to sass her mom whenever she asked her to get off of MySpace and do something with her life.
the original roastmaster, my mother pic.twitter.com/6EAccVothH
— amy (@arb) January 5, 2017
Despite the extra dose of attitude in her teenage years, Brown's mom, Kate, aka 'the original roast master,' has realized that Brown's sassiness is a treasure, and proclaimed to Facebook how proud she is of her. Growing up, 'I was a little bit of a jerk to her, so sorry mom!' Brown said.
Advice on how to slay the social media game
As a viral Twitter icon and winner of the Community Manager Appreciation Day's 2014 Funniest Community Manager award, Brown stressed that having a strong sense of who you are and what your voice is is a crucial component of successful social media posting.
'I think both as a brand and a human being trying to use Twitter, authenticity goes a long way. And, of course being funny doesn't hurt,' she said.
So Wendy’s, we thank you for bringing this much-needed joy into our lives, and Brown, let's hang.
[[UPDATED DECEMBER 14, 2017]]
You know Wendy’s? Fast food restaurant, burgers, logo of a girl with red pigtails? Yep, that’s the one. As it turns out, the very best thing about Wendy’s may not be their burgers, but their Twitter account.
Wendy’s Twitter has gotten a ton of attention and gained notoriety for their distinct brand voice that includes constant zingers to users and competitors alike. Last year they picked a fight with Burger King (and won), and have gone viral several times since due to their quick wit. It may be more dangerous to pick on Wendy’s than an actual comedian at this point.
Wendy’s voice and brand is unique to them, but small businesses can learn from their overall strategy and apply those lessons to their own social media accounts. Regardless of whether you roast people or not (if you do, please proceed with caution), there are four big things we can all take away from their epic social media game.
1. Distinctive Brand Personality
We talk a lot about “brand personality” and “your voice” when it comes to both content marketing and social media marketing. Your business’s brand and voice can help set it apart from competition, making you unique and helping you build more concrete relationships with your customers—even if you never see them face to face (or only for a few seconds in a drive-thru line). And Wendy’s personality is definitely well defined and distinct.
Their sarcasm and fearless humor is the central part of their brand, and it shows up in the majority of their tweets. Even if they’re not roasting someone, a lot of their posts are clever, casual, and funny.
Their content is promotional, but it’s still so much fun. People actually check in to see what Wendy’s is doing and how they’re responding to other users because it’s so ridiculously entertaining. The phrase “don’t troll the troll” comes to mind; if you take Wendy’s on, you know they’ll come back with something fantastic.
The lesson here: find the voice that fits with your brand and center your content around that personality. Make your business’s brand unique and distinctive, and you’ll pique users’ interest.
2. Authenticity
Another phrase you’ll hear when we talk about excelling in social media marketing is “authenticity.” Your brand and social media accounts need to feel authentic. What this really means, at the end of the day, is that users want to be able to read your content and believe two things:
- It was written by an actual person, and not a bot or some sort of automated curation tool
- That, to an extent, your intentions are transparent
Wendy’s accomplishes both of these checkpoints in droves. No computer could come up with the clever, highly entertaining posts that they share.
Wendy’s Twitter also strikes the perfect balance of straight up promotional content and content that’s meant to entertain and drive engagement; in many cases, they skillfully blend the two in a way a lot of brands don’t.
Wendy’s also shares a heavy dose of user generated content (UGC) by seeking out and retweeting great content; they’ll even share content they were never directly tagged in if its great and relevant. Since UGC is the most authentic form of marketing, this is a great strategy.
3. Long-Term Consistency
Picking a strategy and sticking with it is (barring any true catastrophies) can be a great plan. Consistency is a huge benefit on social media, both in terms of what you’re posting and how often.
Wendy’s posts frequently, and while they use a variety of different content types, everything on their feed makes sense when looked at as a whole. They maintain their spit-fire voice instead of relying on a few great one-liners every six months.
Wendys Twitter Roast Mcdonalds
This long-term consistency allows them to keep engagement high, and keep their momentum going. This is something many brands fail to do; they’ll have one great campaign, and they get a ton of attention, and then it all kind of tapers off. Several Old Spice campaigns, for example, have done this.
Wendy’s, however, went in ready to maintain what they were working on—and it’s paid off.
4. Extremely Responsive
Our last major lesson that all small businesses can learn from Wendy’s is to always be extremely responsive. Thanks to the immediacy and constant accessibility of the internet, people want responses to any and all interactions, and they want them now. And Wendy’s is ready.
Wendy’s responds to an immense number of user tweets, even the ones that are clearly just looking to egg Wendy’s on.
Wendy's Twitter Burn
Wendy’s responds quickly, and while they clearly address any and all tweets possible, they make sure to respond quickly (and seriously) to users who have complaints. They never let a complaint go unanswered, and they make it clear to the user that they want to resolve any issues. If it takes them a little while to answer, they’ll even apologize for the delay.
In a hilarious recent update, Wendy’s even responded to the kind of question most brands would ignore with an eye roll: “How many retweets do I need to get free nuggets for a year?”
Wendy’s actually replied and gave them a number: 18 million. So far, the user (Carter Wilkerson) has gotten over 2.7 million retweets, and Wendy’s is getting so much publicity it would probably be worth giving this guy a year of free nuggets.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
Wendy’s has a multiple person team handling their social media, but tools like Agorapulse’s social monitoring and reviewing can make it possible for you to handle and address every single user interaction with your brand. You can spot mentions, and quickly flag down and resolve customer issues from our user-friendly dashboard.
You can also flag or assign tweets and comments to team members who might have a stronger brand voice (or whose wit is on fire that day).
Wendy's Twitter
Final Thoughts
While Wendy’s has a professional (and very witty) team supporting the brand, all small businesses can adapt the strategies they use. They’ve created and maintained a distinct voice that relies heavily on authenticity, and are now known for their exceptional responses, both customer service and otherwise. At the end of the day, this comes down to consistently giving your customers what they want and showing that you care.
Wendys Twitter Roast 2019
This will go a lot further than you think.