It was probably just a matter of time before Wendy’s came around to using McDonald’s broken ice cream machines in its own marketing efforts.
The Dublin, Ohio-based fast-food chain plans to sell the small size of its popular Frosty desserts for $1 through the end of this month, or about five days. It’s a classic discount of a specific item, key at a time when customers are looking for low-priced fast-food options.
But this is Wendy’s, which has developed an irreverent personality on its social media channels, where it’s known for roasting just about anybody, with a particular emphasis on McDonald’s.
Wendy’s is using the offer to poke fun at McDonald’s infamous ice cream machines. The company is working with the developer of the website McBroken.com, where customers can see whether their local McDonald’s ice cream machine is actually functional.
“Wendy’s is showing up for fans across the country with delicious, reliable Frosty treats,” the company said in a release. “Wendy’s fans can count on the Frosty when they need it most.”
Nearly 15% of McDonald’s ice cream machines were broken as of early afternoon Wednesday, according to the website. McBroken.com now features locations of Wendy’s in a local map showing McDonald’s with outages and working ice cream machines. There is also a Wendy’s ad at the top.
Wendy’s says that McDonald’s ice cream machines are most often broken from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the cities where outages are most common include Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles. When an ice cream machine is down, it is typically not working for two to three hours.
McDonald’s ice cream machines, which make the company’s McFlurry desserts, ice cream cones and sundaes, have been a popular topic of conversation for years as frustrated customers take to social media to protest the issue.
The reasoning behind the problem has become popular fodder in the media and has even apparently attracted the attention of the federal government, which is eyeing the rules franchisors place on their franchisees.
And it has become a popular topic for rivals that cannot resist the urge to poke fun at McDonald’s as they push their own offerings.
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