News

Wendy’s taps Boys II Men for pretzel cheeseburger campaign’s second iteration

July 1, 2014

Wendy's announced today the return of its #PretzelLoveSongs campaign to promote the return of its pretzel bacon cheeseburger and pretzel pub chicken. The campaign compiles consumers' "over-the-top" social media posts about the offerings and turns them into a love song.

According to a news release, the company is asking consumers to "share their joy of being reunited with their beloved pretzel bun" on social channels using the hashtag #PretzelLoveSongs.The most embellished posts will be turned into lyrics of songs performed in a three-part series of music videos.

The songs will be performed by R&B group Boyz II Men and two-time Grammy winner Jon Secada, who will sing a bilingual song to Hispanic fans. Wendy's CMO Craig Bahner said the original #PretzelLoveSongs campaign, launched last July and featuring Nick Lachey, was the brand's most successful digital campaign.

"We're taking Wendy's most successful digital campaign to the next level this year – dialing up the humor with full-length songs and bringing in love song legends to help us," Bahner said in the release. "We're connecting all elements of our marketing campaign around music and social, giving us an opportunity to engage our consumers' and use their posts to celebrate their love and passion for the pretzel bun."  

The campaign will run across all advertising, social/digital, public relations, Hispanic and merchandising channels.

Wendy's will also leverage its spokesperson Red, who will create her own music videos inspired by love songs of the 1990s, the release said. Select markets will also feature local activations in which customers can sing their pretzel love song and create their own music video to share online.

"These efforts are a reflection of our consumer-driven brand transformation," Bahner said.  "We have transformed our marketing model to engage consumers where, when and how they want to be engaged, on a one-to-one basis."

The first video in the series launched on Wendy's Facebook and YouTube pages today.