Wendys has discontinued The Biggie? That just ain't right.
Posted on 06/11/2006 12:55:28 PM PDT by billorites
Wendy's International Inc. (NYSE:WEN - news), the No. 3 U.S. hamburger chain, on Friday said it would remove the term "Biggie" from its french fries and drinks, switching to the well known terms small, medium and large.
However, the new designations may confuse some diners who are used to such sizing at other restaurants.
At rival McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD - news), the largest burger chain, a 32 ounce soft drink is designated a large. At Wendy's, a 32 ounce drink will now be called medium, instead of Biggie.
Wendy's is also adding a 42-ounce soft drink -- the equivalent of 3-1/2 cans of soda -- as its large. The large drink will come in a more durable, portable plastic cup that fits in a car cup holder for diners on-the-go.
"We felt like the Biggie designation is not what most customers were used to. Most people were used to small, medium and large," a spokesman said.
Wendy's had used the term Biggie since the early 1990s.
Previously, Wendy's sold a 16 ounce soft drink as a small, a 20 ounce soft drink as medium and a 32 ounce soft drink as Biggie. Now, a 20 ounce drink is a small, a 32 ounce drink is a medium and the new 42 ounce drink is a large. The company will still sell a 16 ounce drink on its 99 cent value menu.
At McDonald's, a 16 ounce drink is called a small, a 21 ounce drink is a medium and a 32 ounce drink is a large.
McDonald's famously removed the "Super Size" option from its combo meals after the 2004 release of the film "Super Size Me" -- a documentary in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's fare for a month and tracked his increasingly poor health.
Kids' sized drinks at both chains are 12 ounces.
Under Wendy's new program, the sizes of its combo meals will be small, medium and large. A medium combo will cost 49 cents more than a small, and a large combo will cost 89 cents more than a small.
Customers can still substitute a bottle of Dasani water for a soft drink, and items such as a side salad, chili or yogurt and granola for french fries, regardless of the combo size.
Wendy's has four different sizes of french fries, ranging from the 3.2 ounce kids' size to a 6.7 ounce large size. At McDonald's, a small fries is 2.6 ounces, medium is 4 ounces and large is 6 ounces.
The new sizing terminology, which Wendy's is promoting in stores, comes just a day after the chain said it would virtually eliminate artery-clogging trans fats in its fries and breaded chicken items.
Wendy's restaurants in the United States and Canada will switch to a new blend of corn and soy oil for french fries and breaded chicken items starting in August. The move will reduce trans fats in fries to just zero to 0.5 grams, depending on serving sizes, while all of the breaded chicken will have zero grams of trans fats.
That's true, the man really truly cares about others.
No wonder they've been losing market share.
WOW! They will actually have “small”, “medium” and “large”! What a unique idea!
Counter help always became confused when I’d ask for a small drink.
No one needs a whole pizza.
Maybe you need to grow a thicker skin. I'm fat, and I don't feel insulted by any of the posts (except the nanny-stater ones).
Webmd and Mayo clinic websites admit it isn't perfect and that other methods may be needed to accurately calculate body fat for atheletes and large boned people.
Fun to watch nanny society turning to put another group in its sights. Smokers told you so.
Didn't realize Depp was so short
5'7" = really 5'5" in Hollywood.
Those little plastic red baskets lined with wax paper piled with fries...
I realize not everyone that is heavy is due to diabetes....
Your commment just seemed really smug and uninformed...
I too have lost a lot of body fat (65lbs) in the last 6 months, and then gained 40lbs back in muscle, yet I still had gone down size n half(on top) and a whole size on the bottom.
There are a few obese people in my family as well.
And BMI is a Medical Standard to go by. It doesn't seem natural, at least I agree with that. According to medical journals, at 5'7, I should weight 145lbs... but they haven't seen the big boned women in my family...
:)
I do understand that point as well and agree.
BTW, Mister, I'm 28, and thanks for age comparison! LOL Sweets, ever since I started my estrogen therapy my taste for sweets has gone down to none! And my eating habits changed drastically on their own. Unfortunately, I went from eating overportioned meals, and fruity/sugary snacks to only being hungry for maybe two meals a day if that.
So now my diabetes is even harder to control, but easier with the medicine that it was before. Cause not eating is almost as bad as when I was eating!
Activity has been a great help in my blood pressure though... have you noticed that change too?
And most those doctors, have never had it themselves, on top of that, they haven't seen all the millions of patients that have it.
It is true not everyone digests sugar the same way, however, gaining weight doesn't make one diabetic. That's a fact!
Wendys has discontinued The Biggie? That just ain't right.
I had no idea diabetes was building in my system, I can look back to the age of 6 or 7 and see a huge change in my life one summer, that I didn't stick to, but put me on a roller coaster to diabetes.
but I didn't get fat first!
Sugar stocks up in some people, and lack of sugar affects some people. Diabetes is a specific disease, not the fault of the irresponsible eater, as I've seen posted here.
Absolutely spot on. I also think that the Food Police should be the next huge federal agency formed by the 'conservative' Bush Administration. Each household will be assigned a Food Policeman - thereby solving the problems of obesity and unemployment simultaneously as new FPs are hired in each city.
actually the bigger problem is the high fructose corn syrup that is put into these large drinks and canned soda and just about everything else.
If you cut it out of your diet you will watch you appetite decrease sustaintally. And you would never be ABLE to drink this much soda in one sitting.
this addititive suppresses your "full" mechanism. Start buying things with sugar again and you will see what i mean.
Oh and don't be fooled Diet soda is even worse
That's where the epicenter of the epidemic really is.
No one forces people to consume these.
If people didn't buy them, the fast food joints and soda companies wouldn't offer those sizes.
You CAN get a bottle of water there.
I remember our big monthly "night out" was to Shakey's Pizza.
Thanks for the memories!
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