During busy times, like 2 am on New Year's Day, Uber and Lyft do this thing where they inflate prices as a reason to allegedly slow the demand and better serve the consumer. This has also been seen for things like concert tickets, movie prices, etc. But this is not typically something you see with fast food burgers. And all of a sudden, Wendy’s has decided to shoot itself in the foot and join the price surge bandwagon.

You read that correctly. Wendy’s announced that it intends to inflate prices during busy times for God knows what reason and all I have to say to this is that it is my unprofessional opinion that that is a bad marketing move.

According to AP News:

Wendy’s is looking to test having the prices of its menu items fluctuate throughout the day based on demand, implementing a strategy that has already taken hold with ride-sharing companies and ticket sellers.

During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year.

“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,” he said. “As we continue to show the benefit of this technology in our company-operated restaurants, franchisee interest in digital menu boards should increase, further supporting sales and profit growth across the system.”

Wendy’s Co. plans to invest about $20 million to launch digital menu boards at all of its U.S. company-run restaurants by the end of 2025. It also plans to invest approximately $10 million over the next two years to support digital menu enhancements globally.

Look, I have only been to Wendy’s several times in my life. So I am no expert on its consumer base. But given its obvious reputation of being “affordable fast food,” I think making people pay more because it’s busy is insane.

Either raise the prices all the time or none of the time. Maybe this is a way to get people in during non-peak hours. Who knows. But all I am saying is that even as someone who will likely never choose to go to Wendy’s out of my volition, I am not here for this.

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. There is no way we should sit back and let massive corporations start price surging like Uber. And it’s not that I don’t think they have a right to raise prices. Of course they do, I am no communist. And I understand the need to do so under Biden’s economy. But I don’t like prices changing based on subjective criteria throughout the day. Because that is a slippery slope and we should not be here for it.

Anyway, it’s a free country (for now). And as they say: You do you, boo.

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