I try not to eat too much fast food because if I do, I’ll just not stop and eat it every day and most medical journals advise against that. But it’s quick, easy, cheap expensive, and unbelievably delicious. With that being said, I do love me some Wendy’s.
So, when Wendy’s announced their plan to start “surge pricing,” let’s just say… people were not exactly thrilled.
Surge pricing is like live-action supply and demand. Think Uber: depending on the time of day, your ride will cost different. Airlines work the same way. And unfortunately, so does Ticketmaster for absolutely no reason but corporate greed (we all hate you, Ticketmaster).
To make a long story short, your lunch meal will cost more money at lunchtime… because that’s when most people eat lunch? The cost is no different to Wendy’s. Make it make sense.
With literally every single thing in this world becoming more expensive… this did not sit well with folks.
Sorry, I like eating there but the only way to ensure that the insanely stupid idea of "surge pricing" for restaurants is never tried again is to make a strong example of @Wendys and push it into bankruptcy.https://t.co/4yoaGlcPvO
— Ari Cohn (@AriCohn) February 27, 2024
.@Wendys is planning to try out “surge pricing” — that means you could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy’s stays exactly the same.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 28, 2024
It’s price gouging plain and simple, and American families have had enough.https://t.co/dbJuhAM6vp
Hey @Wendys, will your employees be getting “surge pay” during busier hours, or is the excess profit of your “surge pricing” going directly into the pockets of executives?
— Farron Cousins (@farronbalanced) February 28, 2024
Apparently, Wendy’s took notice… kind of… or wait, did they at all? It seems like the next fantastic move for Wendy’s is to just completely gaslight us by telling us the media reported wrong and that they were actually trying to save us money.
According to the Wendy’s CEO,
“Earlier this month we issued our fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings results and included an update on investments we are making in our digital business,” the company wrote. “One initiative is digital menuboards, which are being added to U.S. Company-operated restaurants.
Even more, the CEO continues, “We said these menuboards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items. This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants. We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most.”
Ohhhhh, okay. They were just going to use dynamic surge pricing to HELP us! Gosh, how could we be so foolish to think otherwise?
Gaslighting at it’s finest.
