Adweek: Wendy's Goes All-In on Sriracha With a Series of Kooky Videos to Promote the Sauce

As hot sauce connoisseurs have jumped on board with sriracha sauce, many brands have tried to get in on the trend themselves. According to a recent Adweek article, Wendy’s is the latest brand to include sriracha in a few new menu items with a unique marketing campaign to get the word out. Yesterday the brand launched a TV and digital campaign to target hardcore fans of the spicy sauce. The new menu items: sriracha-flavored fries and a chicken sandwich that has sriracha-infused cheese, a flavored bun and aioli sauce.

"When you see someone walking around with a keychain that has a bottle of sriracha on it, it's a pretty big indicator that this thing is significant—it's not one of those things like ketchup that's ubiquitous but it's also not one of those things that no one's heard of," said Brandon Rhoten, VP of Advertising, Media and Digital at Wendy's.

On the brand’s social media channels and website, the word sriracha will be taking over and the brand has told community managers to look out for and respond to questions about the spicy sauce. But their real target is the fan who is obsessed with the sauce.

"It's the kind of people who would get a tattoo, the kind of people who would outfit their entire bedroom, the kind of people who would paint themselves up in celebration," Rhoten explained. "We're not trying to find somebody who has tried it and didn't like it."

Wendy’s has also decided to work with Buzzfeed to run ads for the campaign including videos, articles, and quizzes all pertaining to the spicy sauce.  

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