Wendy’s announce that they’re bringing back spicy chicken nuggets after Twitter campaign led by Chance The Rapper
07 May 2019
3m
If there’s one surefire way to irritate the internet, it’s by taking away something delicious. Fast food giants Wendy’s discovered this to their cost when, way back in 2017, they decided to do the unthinkable and remove their spicy chicken nuggets from their menus. The immediate response was uproar. Fans stamped their feet and threw incredulous tantrums, all to no avail. True to their word, spicy nuggets were soon a fast food relic. That was, until an enterprising musician and the collective might of Twitter decided it was high time for a revival.
The saga started on Saturday the 4th of March when Wendy’s fan and unambiguously named hip-hop star Chance The Rapper took to the social media platform to provide his following with some “Positive Affirmations”. “I WILL have a good day, I Will succeed today,” he wrote. He then went on, adding, “Wendy’s WILL bring back spicy nuggets at some point please please Lord let it be today.” Little did he know the seismic ramifications of what he had just unleashed.
Seizing on the opportunity for some positive PR, the drones in charge of the Wendy’s Twitter account quickly consulted the powers that be and got the go-ahead for a radical plan. Within hours, they had posted a response to Chance’s plea for nuggets, writing, “Y’all keep asking, so here’s your chance. The people in charge say if you guys can get our tweet (this one right here) to 2 Million likes, they will bring SPICY CHICKEN NUGGETS BACK. Let’s freakin’ do this!” Twitter didn’t need a second invitation.
Within 24 hours, the Wendy’s tweet had been liked an astonishing 1.6 million times. Messages of support came flooding in from all over the world, even from those who had no skin in the game. One user wrote, “i don’t even eat meat anymore and i still want this to return (sic).” As time went by, momentum continued to grow. It was obvious that Wendy’s might well have let an uncontrollable nugget genie out of the bottle.
Finally, on Monday morning, what had previously looked like a deep fried pipe dream finally became reality. With the like count standing at a whopping 2.1 million, the Wendy’s account burst back into life. It was good news. “THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” declared a presumably overexcited social media executive that may have been in over their head. “Spicy Chicken Nuggets are coming back! Y’all are crazy! That took like a day and a half! WHAT?!We don’t know when yet, gotta figure it out, but soon, and ok, LOSING IT RIGHT NOW THIS IS AMAZING!!”
Though there has been no official word on when the nuggets may actually return, it’s clear that the Twitter campaign has been an extraordinary success. The man at the centre of attention was particularly magnanimous in victory, writing, “Postive Affirmations for the day: You WILL like this tweet (sic)” immediately after the news was made public. Whether you’re invested in the idea of spicy nuggets or not, it’s obvious to everyone that this story proves the power that social media can wield. Mess with it at your peril.