A Rhetorical Analysis On Wendy's

Looking through “@Wendys” Instagram page, I managed to select 3 of their images that best represent the peak of their methods of advertising. Pathos appears to be one of the focal points going along with the application of building a connection with the audience among the posts. Moreover, the uplifting and humorous tones used throughout the images send a message about their brand and how they like to carry themselves. By being “hip” or using terms that appeal to the modern youth, they just seem to have the perfect formula for advertising in today's society. While it is common for fast food chains to use humor as a way of advertisement, “Wendy’s” seems to be taking it a step further tailoring to a more socially motivated audience, the youth.

As mentioned above, the main use of pathos is to appeal to the sense of humor, but they had to take it a step further by specifically using “hip” humor as defined earlier.

It seems that doing this aids the brands name in social media overall as it is now the main source of control, in this easily brainwashed society. Aside from that, if we take a closer look at the layout of one of the posts, analyzing deeper than just the image itself but from the caption to the comments they receive, it almost imitates the feed of your average teenager on social media. It is profound how “Wendy’s” is able to grab the attention of the new generation as well as and most importantly, be able to relate to them as they are able to open up a lot of opportunities for connections and building an audience through one of the most powerful tools in modern

times.
The company Wendy’s themselves have had a lot of exposure in social media not too long ago for posting similar, funny and “hip” responses to random questions people have for them. Appealing to the youth going along with the countless reposts they were able to build up, they obtained some credibility in the community and got known for humorous content connected with their product. This tags along with their incredible ability and determination to interact with consumers online. In one of the images (https://www.instagram.com/p/BN7PX2bgeh6/?hl=en&taken-by=wendys), you can see that there are many interactions with the audience and plenty of consumers who are interested in connecting with the brand in some form. To be able to accomplish that as a fast food chain is an achievement that not many other companies have been very successful with. In addition to that, this isn’t the only situation where they obtained credibility. “Wendy’s” is one of the top fast food chains that is comparable to other major fast food chains such as “McDonald’s" so they really have climbed the ladder in the fast food chain industry. Looking at their stats on one of the pictures alone you would easily be able to understand their standings with around forty-seven thousand views and over 500 comments on a picture of a plain and simple burger (https://www.instagram.com/p/BN7PX2bgeh6/?hl=en&taken-by=wendys). It presents a sense of irony in their posts which are connected with their type of humor, to show off their carefree online alter ego. Moreover, it is pretty hard to not to consider “Wendy’s” a company that is successfully taking the media by storm and successfully taking advantage of the modern day addiction; the internet and social media.
If we take a step back and look at the images chosen we see they are all concise, easy to see layouts which provide no confusion as to what is being advertised. The bright and bold colors they select allows the image to pop and possibly contrast with their product to make it clear that it is their main point of focus (https://www.instagram.com/p/BQBUch5AwHP/?hl=en&taken-by=wendys). Doing this is an attempt to connect with the “vibe” or the feeling the consumer picks up from the image with happiness. Moreover, their what could be considered as an overdramatic presentation of their product, and their funny captions to go along with it, makes it understandable as to why they gained the popularity and attention that they did. It presents a sense of irony in their posts which are connected with their type of humor, to make it seem ironic or to show off their carefree online alter ego.
In conclusion, Wendy’s seems to know what they’re doing, to say the least.

It’s as if they are rapidly passing their competition and picking up on the “secret recipe” to convince the modern society. From their adaptation to the lifestyle of the modern youth to their ability to add a twist to the conventional humor route that the vast majority of fast food chains use, “Wendy’s” is doing a solid job setting themselves apart. For example, if we were to compare the strategies of the images chosen to another company, let’s take “McDonald’s” for instance. They seem to target a much wider variety of people because of the products they sell such as coffee, in which they tend to focus more on the older consumers. With that comes their cheesy humor, which is an obvious attempt at generalizing the humor of all generations of people and in result it might not be the most effective way to utilize it. While it is common for fast food chains to use cheesy pathos as a way of advertisement, Wendy’s seems to be taking it a step further tailoring to a more socially motivated audience, the

youth.