Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Wendy’s has spoken to its manager after suggestions that it plans to introduce “surge pricing” to its menu received a decidedly frosty response this week, with the company scrambling to clarify that it has no intention of making itself the Uber of fast-food chains.
After it was reported that CEO Kirk Tanner told investors on a Feb. 15 call that “beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing,” the juicy morsel went viral, catching heat from all corners of the internet.
Social media users clowned on the experiment, joking about playing the fast-food stock market and hoarding dozens of burgers in their fridges. Politicians and comedians alike chimed in, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) denouncing it as “price gouging plain and simple” even as Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng snorted salt packets to prepare for Baconator arbitrage. Burger King even announced a promotion for free Whoppers in response, crowing that “the only thing surging at BK is our flame!”