Key Takeaways:
Deliver as Promised: Customers were disappointed when Wendy’s failed to provide the special SpongeBob-themed packaging as advertised, highlighting the importance of meeting promotional promises to avoid negative brand impressions.
Packaging Is Essential: Packaging plays a crucial role in the customer experience and purchase decisions. The trend of “Dopamine Design” shows that consumers respond positively to colorful and engaging packaging, which Wendy’s failed to deliver in this promotion.
Consider The Online Factor: The backlash Wendy’s faced online underscores the need for promotional campaigns to consider their potential online impact. Ensuring that promotional products meet expectations can prevent negative social media attention and enhance brand reputation.
Gen Z loves to take their grievances to social media.
We’ve all seen the videos where a floating head and torso explain the latest gossip, scandal or collective disappointment. It’s rarely about branded packaging, though.
But one recent TikTok post proves that not only are the kids paying attention to printed products like packaging and paper, they are upset enough to hit record when they don’t get what they were promised.
For context here, a recent Wendy’s promotion celebrated the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants by introducing special menu items referencing the show’s Krusty Krab restaurant. Relatedly, there was special packaging for the meals that used SpongeBob design elements and co-branded looks with the Wendy’s logo.
When customers went to their local Wendy’s, some got their food in the regular Wendy’s packaging, which left them feeling a little underwhelmed at best, or swindled at worst.
A TikTok account called Stuff About Advertising was one of the voices pointing out the promotional flaw.
“For some reason they’re not using any of the licensed packaging that they’re showing in all of the promos, so it just looks like any other Wendy’s meal, except the burger has some different sauce on it,” she said in the video. “This whole thing just feels very lazy on Wendy’s part.”
In an era where fast-food brands are constantly trying to one-up each other with their tie-ins and promotional products, this fatal flaw makes Wendy’s campaign fall flat.
You can look at other ways competitors have specifically used print and packaging to create branding experiences as examples of how to pull this off well, and glean takeaways for your own promotional products campaigns.
1. Deliver as Promised
The main gripe from customers is that they were shown one thing – a special menu item that came in fun SpongeBob-themed packaging. They knew that the burger itself was not going to be a culinary revelation, but it was the nostalgia printed into the packaging that made it more appealing. It’s fun, plain and simple. So, when they went to Wendy’s and ordered the special meal, only to have it delivered in the drab brown paper bag instead, it was disappointing and left a negative impression of Wendy’s – the exact opposite of what a promotional product should do for its brand.
The fast-food chain isn’t new to this sort of thing either. It’s previously done fully immersive store takeovers and branded meals complete with packaging and drinkware for IPs like Rick and Morty. Customers knew what Wendy’s was capable of and that built the expectation up even more – only for the quick-service chain to let them down. Not a good thing. Bottom line: Whether it’s a one-on-one setting on a small order with a client or massive marketing campaign targeting big audiences, it’s critically important for merch purveyors to deliver on their promises.
2. Realize Packaging Is an Essential Part of the Experience
Time and time again psychology has shown us that people pay attention to packaging and wrappers. It is literally the first impression in a lot of instances, and in an industry like promo, first impressions are of prime importance to distributors and end-buyers. That’s why it’s so important for print and promo pros to pay close attention to packaging – and get it right. Something Wendy’s didn’t do here.
Consider: A 2018 study found that 72% of American consumers said that their purchase decisions were influenced by packaging design.
And then think on this: The TikTok video from Stuff About Advertising specifically cited a trend called “Dopamine Design” that consumers are responding to at the moment. It’s the opposite of the more understated, minimal designs that were popular in recent years, instead favoring busy prints and colorful designs. It quite literally hits you with a boost of dopamine. As the poster pointed out, “Dopamine Design” reflects the greater cultural moment of overstimulation from social media.
In short, consumers who are used to being inundated with stimuli want to keep that dopamine flow going. Packaging, especially for something branded as a celebration of a colorful cartoon, should instantly illicit a response, even a subconscious one. Graphic designers know how color can evoke feeling. Look no further than each year’s Pantone color of the year and the brain chemistry associated with each hue.
The idea extends into other product design and even interior decorating. Devika Khosla, creative director at The Works Interiors, told Architectural Digest how color plays into this trend.
“Using oranges, pinks, yellows, lime greens and cobalt blues in generous amounts brightens the space and keeps the joyful vibes alive,” she said.
This applies to hard goods and packaging in the promotional products space, too. And, in comparison, makes the brown and red of Wendy’s normal packaging seem all the more underwhelming when your brain craves splashy tones.
3. Design Promos With Online in Mind
The whole reason that we know about this “scandal” is that people are talking about it online. Wendy’s pushed heavily on social media sites to advertise the SpongeBob branding extravaganza, and it’s often appropriate and desired for a promo products-driven campaign to have a second life online.
The recipient gets the product and then hopefully shares it with their online community, thus expanding the reach of the product and brand/marketing initiative. Products can also include things like hashtags or QR codes printed onto the piece – a call-to-action that encourages end-users to take the conversation online.
Ultimately, Wendy’s found themselves on the wrong side of the Internet’s attention, with even the dedicated Wendy’s subreddit trashing the lack of SpongeBob packaging. One X user even edited the Wendy’s logo to make her frown at the “huge letdown” of the branded experience, writing “Do NOT waste your time or money with this.”
Promotional products campaigns, whether they include packaging or not, can be designed with online sharing in mind. At the very minimum, distributors should be aware that if they set certain expectations and fail to meet them on a large scale, the internet could take notice and spread the word, doing more harm than good to the brand.
After all, not all press is good press.
