Wendy’s Spins Iconic ‘80s Ad with Bacon Fuelled Breakfast Offering

Wendy’s wins its place at the breakfast table with campaign from McCann Canada

QSR breakfast in Canada to date has left much to be desired. Sad and disappointing breakfast sandwiches with see-through bacon cooked in microwaves on dry, half-toasted English muffins. Canadians deserve more and now, finally, they’ll get it. Wendy’s has developed a new breakfast offering focused on quality Canadian ingredients and their biggest differentiator – thick-cut, Applewood smoked bacon. In 1984, Wendy’s released what became their most iconic ad ever ‘Where’s The Beef?. It was used to question the offerings of other fast food companies and to draw attention to the lack of meat that actually came on their burgers. Modernising the 1984 work, Wendy’s has put a spin on that famous question by asking ‘Where’s The Bacon?’ The answer? It’s at Wendy’s because breakfast has arrived.

Created by McCann Canada, the campaign aimed to recreate the essence of the original 1984 ad spot while ensuring it is modern and reflective of today. “We wanted this campaign to be fun and inviting not just for those who remember the original from 1984, but also for our Wendy’s fans who might not have even been born yet” said Josh Stein, chief creative officer at McCann Canada. “Every element of this campaign, especially the casting, helped reinvoke the nostalgia of the ’80s while still bringing it to life in a really fresh way.

For over a decade, Canadians have been taking to their social feeds asking Wendy’s if and when they will ever bring breakfast to Canada. Two weeks prior to the campaign launch @wendyscanada began revisiting all of these mentions from over the years and leaving a ‘like’ to hint that something was coming. At the same time, national out-of-home billboards and transit shelters along with digital and social inventory started asking Canadians, ‘Where’s The Bacon? Find out May 2nd’ – accompanied by a hero shot of very sad-looking breakfast sandwiches in the brand colours of Wendy’s competitors.

“We have a superior product offering hands down”, said Lisa Deletroz, senior director of marketing, Wendy’s Restaurants of Canada Inc. (‘Wendy’s Canada’). “Canadians deserve a better breakfast experience and that is what they’ll find at Wendy’s. Our breakfast menu delivers on quality, taste and affordability. I’m very proud of this campaign – while it is competitive at its core, It stays focused on our main differentiator – quality food.”

Running Nationally from May 2nd to June 19th, the ‘Where’s the Bacon’ campaign will use Television, OOH, Digital, Social, Radio, Mobile, Search and Online Audio to promote the new breakfast offerings. A selection of influencers will carry the message through TikTok and Instagram and a long-standing sponsorship of the Big Brother Canada property will see the announcement integrated in to the show and as part of the contestants experience in the house.

All media strategy, planning and buying was handled by Initiative while all PR elements were handled by Ketchum – both Agency of Record partners for Wendy’s Canada.