a letter I wrote to Wendy’s two years ago.

To whom this may concern,

I want to comment on the recent television ad for the new Steakhouse Double Melt; as a loyal Wendy’s customer, I am disappointed with your commercial because I found it offensive. I am a Film and Visual Culture major over at the University of California - Riverside so I study commercials and look for underlying ideologies that may be present within them. I have examined your ad and discovered an unintentional (with the benefit of a doubt) usage of the metaphorical use of women as “hot and juicy patties of fresh meat.” In the ad, a man is placed in the middle of two women in an airplane; knowing that this ad is advertising a sandwich with ingredients in the middle of two beef patties, a correlation between the beef and the women is prominently evident. As a male, I find this disrespectful and degrading to the female sex. I ask that your corporation review this commercial and consider taking it off the air. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Darrell ———-

their response:

Darrell,

Thank you for sharing your thought about Wendy’s current advertising.  We appreciate your comments as they help us evaluate the effectiveness of our campaigns.

We are sorry to hear that you were offended by our recent advertisements.  We recognize that differences of opinion exist and that not everyone will like every campaign.  The fact that you took the time to contact us is extremely important to  us.  Please be assured that we listen to you and that your opinion matters since we did not intend for the commercial to come across as you saw it.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Jane Frazier
Supervisor, Customer Service
Wendy’s Inc
800 443 7266 x 3015

Assholes.