Wendy's Baconator TV Ad: Rhetorical Analysis

Introduction: Selling Indulgence in a Health-Conscious Era

"If you talk the talk, shouldn't you walk the walk?" This sort of confrontational dialogue might seem, out of context, to come from a provocative car or jeans advertisement — or even a trash-talking street fight. But instead it is ripped from the headlines of Wendy's latest television commercial for its new hamburger, the "Spicy Baconator." Considering that the fast food industry has recently come under criticism for its promotion of unhealthy food and lifestyles, promoting the Baconator would seem to be as potentially suicidal for a company as someone with a heart condition ingesting the two juicy square patties of beef, Monterey Jack cheese, and heaps of jalapeño pepper slices.

However, one problem for fast food companies is that although people may say they wish to consume healthier food, the average frequent fast food consumer rarely orders such healthier fare. "Even now, the overwhelming choice of fast-food customers are burgers, fries, and soda — or rather, cholesterol-laden burgers, fatty fries, and sugary soda — just as they've always been… That's a truth not lost on the menu developers who work for McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and the rest." To hold its market base against major burger competitors, Wendy's "Baconator" ignores wise dietary advice and portrays eating its creation as a walk on the wild side, without apology.

The Ad's Narrative: Masculinity, the Office, and Escapism

The Baconator advertisement suggests that by eating meaty, manly food, a Wendy's consumer can inject a wild, hedonistic spirit of unfettered consumption into his — and the ad's targets are very clearly male — boring office life, and cast aside such concerns as calories, heart attacks, and good nutrition. The advertisement portrays two extremely slim men in business suits and ties: one evidently the boss, the other a lowly employee. "It has a kick but it gets the job done," observes the rather geeky employee, as both men unwrap the sandwich from shiny silver paper. He continues to describe the creation after taking a bite: "Spicy but a team player," adding that the Baconator deserves a raise.

In other words, because the employee has ingested the Baconator, he is emboldened to broach the subject of a raise with his boss. The boss is nonplussed and advises the sandwich to get back to him in several months. However, the implication — however humorous — is that as staid as one's life may be, eating Wendy's food enables a kind of fun escapism, as opposed to eating a turkey sandwich brought from home at one's desk, and can embolden even the shyest of men.

Wendy's Brand Persona and Competitor Contrast

Wendy's corporate slogan, "It's way better than fast food," suggests that Wendy's is somehow different and more unexpected in its flavor profile than the other major fast food brands. The emphasis, however, is not on improved health but on flavor. As a company, Wendy's cultivates a quirky persona, which manifests itself in the off-beat look of its advertisements and the rather discordant background music. The people in the advertisements are ordinary-looking individuals — not idealistically thin or attractive.

This stands in contrast to campaigns deployed by other fast food companies, such as McDonald's, which have attempted to create an association between their products and healthy sporting events like the Olympics. In the Baconator ad, the indulgence of the burger, although obvious, is not stressed, nor are any of the consequences of eating it beyond the fact that it tastes better and more decadent than generic fast food — presumably McDonald's. Rather, the fun of eating it is featured, along with the idea that the Baconator provides relief from the grind and mundane nature of the average stultifying office day. The sandwich, especially in its spicy incarnation, establishes a subliminal connection with happy, indulgent, manly meat-and-cheese consumption, and tries to lure the consumer — probably an office worker very much like those profiled in the ad — to make a purchase. The target audience is fairly clearly non-health-conscious males looking for a convenient lunch that provides something different. Taste, rather than value, is stressed: the price of the sandwich, while not expensive compared to a sit-down restaurant, is higher than that of smaller burgers.