Let Marketing Dive’s free newsletter keep you informed, straight from your inbox.
Topics covered: social media, mobile, advertising, marketing tech, content marketing, and more.
Topics covered: Campaigns, platform developments, apps, gaming, trends, and much more.
Topics covered: business models, technology, partnerships, culture and high profile personnel changes.
Wendy’s latest campaign aims to engage with pop culture nostalgia to promote the summertime return of its Strawberry Frosty treat. The tie-up with T-Pain touches on several marketing tactics popular with brands in recent years.
The “Fros-T-Pain” campaign features the remixed track, available on YouTube and TikTok, along with a full-length music video that features T-Pain in the studio, in front of a Strawberry Frosty-inspired coupe and in a Wendy’s that has been turned into a nightclub. The final shot reveals that the entire video might be in T-Pain’s head, with a Wendy’s employee nodding to the “sir, this is a Wendy’s” meme.
By rewriting “Buy U a Drank” as “Buy U a Frosty,” Wendy’s becomes the latest brand to collaborate with a musician to turn a fan-favorite song into a brand-ready jingle. General Mills snack brand Chex Mix in January enlisted Sir Mix-A-Lot to remix “Baby Got Back” as “Bagel Is Back,” while Uber’s Super Bowl spot revolved around Sean “Diddy” Combs and artists including Kelis and Montell Jordan remixing their songs to reference its subscription service. In a similar move, Frito-Lay’s 2022 Super Bowl spot tapped Megan Thee Stallion for a reimagined version of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.”
In collaborating with T-Pain, Wendy’s taps into early-aughts nostalgia for a reinvigorated hitmaker who is no stranger to brand campaigns. Lipton Tea cast the rapper-singer as “Cousin T” in a similarly nostalgia-inspired effort, while Alka-Seltzer had T-Pain rework their “plop, plop, fizz, fizz” slogan as a song and dance challenge on TikTok.
Wendy’s has long keyed in on culture to engage with younger, more elusive consumers, popularizing the sarcastic, combative tone that was popular with fast-food chains in the years before the pandemic. The chain has continued to tie-up with pop cultural phenomena, like Adult Swim favorite “Rick and Morty,” and has experimented with emerging channels, including the metaverse and shoppable ads on connected TV.
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
Brands remain active despite a lot of doomsaying, though experts agree they must prioritize compliance as platforms like Roblox tighten their policies.
The commercialized whiskey industry is hundreds of years old. If it’s going to survive another 100, the marketing playbook needs to change.
Subscribe to Marketing Dive for top news, trends & analysis
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
Brands remain active despite a lot of doomsaying, though experts agree they must prioritize compliance as platforms like Roblox tighten their policies.
The commercialized whiskey industry is hundreds of years old. If it’s going to survive another 100, the marketing playbook needs to change.
The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines