Corporate Campaigns Wicked Wendy's

"McDonald's buckled first. Then Burger King. Now, Wendy's has plans to bolster its animal welfare standards following intense pressure from an animal rights group. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) today will announce the end of its 2-month-old campaign against Wendy's. The move comes one day after the fast-food chain told PETA it would strengthen oversight of its suppliers and improve treatment of animals before and during slaughter."
—USA Today, Sep. 2001



Victory: PETA Wins 'Wicked Wendy's' Campaign!

On September 6, 2001, PETA called off its "Wicked Wendy's" campaign when the fast-food giant confirmed that it would meet the animal welfare standards that PETA negotiated with McDonald's and Burger King.

PETA's campaign involved provocative ads (including one depicting Dave Thomas with his head up his bottom and a billboard featuring "Wicked Wendy" as a bloody butcher); support from Babe star James Cromwell, who led the campaign kick-off demonstration in Vienna, Virginia; and dozens of protests at Wendy's restaurants nationwide.

PETA called off its "Wicked Wendy's" campaign when Wendy's agreed to do the following things:

  • Conduct unannounced inspections of its slaughterhouses and take action against facilities that fail the inspections
  • Institute humane catching guidelines for chickens that will drastically reduce the number of broken bones caused by rough handling
  • Require suppliers to give "laying" hens a minimum of 72 square inches of cage space
  • Stop purchasing from suppliers who force-molt chickens (i.e., starve them in order to force them to lay more eggs)
  • Immediately require suppliers to adopt air-quality guidelines for chickens
  • Work to develop alternative housing systems for pigs
  • Immediately apply the above standards to the company's Canadian operations

For information about PETA's current campaign against KFC—urging it to eliminate the worst abuses suffered by the more than 850 million chickens killed for its buckets each year—visit KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.