“Where's The Beef?”

Wendy’s has walked back its claim that they will increase prices during busy hours. Instead, what they now claim to have meant was that these plans to implement “dynamic pricing” are really about offering "discounts" during non-peak times.

And for the record, the definition of dynamic pricing is, “the practice of varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions, in particular the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand.”

But we all knew they were going to eat their own words and walk back the plans. On Monday we reported, “My guess is that this price surge will be so unpopular, that the company will have to peddle back on its claim and fall through on the plan.”

Now, their PR team is scrambling, claiming, “tHiS iS nOt WhAt We MeAnT.”

According to Business Insider:

"Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling," Tanner said in the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.

After the CEO's comments, Business Insider contacted Wendy's by email to ask for more details, including how much prices would vary under the new model, which BI's email referred to as "surge pricing."

Wendy's responded with a statement about what the digital menu boards would entail but didn't dispute the "surge pricing" characterization.

After an online stir about the new pricing model, a Wendy's spokesperson, Heidi Schauer, sent an update Tuesday evening saying, "Wendy's will not implement surge-pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest."

An announcement on the company website reiterated that digital menu boards would allow stores to change featured items more easily and would offer discounts to customers.

Obviously, offering discounts will bring more people in. But their backpedaling makes no sense since they are basically doubling down on the claim that menu prices will change based on ambiguous standards and no one is here for that.

If they truly meant they would be offering discounts when they used the term “dynamic pricing,” why would they not just say “discounts?” That makes much more sense considering that dynamic pricing means a price that consistently changes and often refers to an increase, not a decrease. Honestly, I have never seen any company use the term “dynamic pricing” when referring to discounts.

But they are still being vague in the fact that they are still claiming digital menu prices will change throughout the day. Technically, depending on what time of day someone visits, they may experience more expensive prices. So again, it’s not wrong to say one is being charged “a higher price at a time of greater demand.” Because that is de facto what they are doing.

But whatever. If they want to throw out ambiguous and vague claims to defend their sketchy AI menus, that is their prerogative.

Word of advice to the “Home of Fresh, Never Frozen Beef,” just keep one price and email out time-specific coupons like a normal company does.

Anyway, to each their own, and “Square’s the beef.”

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