Overall, I was satisfied with how the meal tasted. It just didn’t feel like a special collaboration.
When it comes to fast-food collaborations I’ve tried in the past, the most impressive were when chains got creative and gave fans all-new menu items with limited-edition branding and packaging, such as McDonald’s and BTS’ signature sauces or Burger King’s newest Wednesday Addams-inspired Whopper with a purple bun.
Collaborations can be big business drivers for fast-food chains. The New York Times reported that after McDonald’s began launching celebrity meal collaborations in September 2020, downloads of the McDonald’s app increased by 10 million, which the publication called a “significant jump.”
McDonald’s named its BTS meal, which launched in May 2021, among the reasons for a more than 25% increase in sales in Q3 of 2021, and its success suggests that engaging with celebrity fandoms, especially those that resonate with Gen Z or millennials, can mean big business for brands.
By comparison, the Wendy’s meal didn’t feel specific enough to a show like “SpongeBob,” which has a devoted community of fans. While I enjoyed the food, I can understand why a standard meal with no signature branding was such a letdown for those fans.
Sure, SpongeBob lives in a pineapple, so a pineapple-flavored Frosty makes sense. But is that enough to make this meal feel tied to the show?
I left Wendy’s feeling like the answer was “no,” even though I’d go back for the limited-edition Frosty and saucy burger, “SpongeBob” connection aside.
Nostalgia alone can’t make a fast-food collaboration worthwhile for fans. The meal needs to be just as creative as the celebrity or pop-culture icon it’s inspired by.
Wendy’s did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.