Feast of Legends
Wendy’s
Issue 58 | March 2021
Agency
VMLY&R Kansas
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer NA: John Godsey Executive Creative Director: Derek Clark, Group Creative Director: McKay Hathaway Creative Director: Matt Keck Art Director: Ben Grace Senior Art Director: Conor Clarke, Creative Director: Tony Marin
Production Team
Head Illustrator, Freelance: Alex Lopez Map Illustrator, Freelance: Colin Fogel Producer: Shae Mermis Social Media Specialist, Wendy’s: Kristin Tormey Director of Integrated Production: Steve Stone Group Director Vault: Scott Stone Senior Editor: Jeff Stiles,
Other Credits
Chief Marketing Officer, Wendy’s: Carl Loredo VP, Media and Social, Wendy’s: Jimmy Bennett Director, PR, Wendy’s: Frank Vamos Senior Analyst, Strategy & Insights: Jeremy Cline Associate Director, Client Engagement: Colin Belmont Connections Director, Social Strategy: Charles Gooch Connections Supervisor, Social Strategy: Samantha Hanlon Assistant Account Manager: Margaret Reed Senior Campaign Program Manager: Laura Picicci Group Director, Client Engagement: Kelly Gartenmayer Connections Manager: Emmy Hanlon Manager Content, Spark Foundry: Victor Thai Account Supervisor, Ketchum: Stefani Duhon
Date
October 2019 – December 2021
Background
Wendy’s, the No. 3 burger quick service burger restaurant (QSR) chain in America was founded in 1969 in direct opposition to the QSR category. Most notably represented in Wendy’s use of fresh beef, when the majority of the category opted for frozen.
However, 50 years later most consumers view all fast food restaurants as the same. Which is problematic when mealtime decisions are made impulsively. When hunger comes calling, consumers think of their competitors first, and Wendy’s third.
Idea
Like most brands, the future of Wendy’s growth lies with a younger audience. Specifically, the ubiquitous 18- to 34-year-olds as they’re the audience eating in the QSR category most often.
One of the biggest interests of this audience is gaming — both playing games and watching others play them on social platforms such as Twitch. However, the hottest topic in gaming isn’t online, it’s offline. Table-top role-playing games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons are at the peak of their popularity due to shows like Stranger Things, Game of Thrones and Twitch.
Tabletop role-playing games are unique for their in-depth storytelling and gameplay that is acted out in real life. Therefore, an entire world could be created and they game about the Wendy’s brand and the QSR category where players would adventure on behalf of Queen Wendy and battle the evils of frozen beef. The adventure and rules of Feast of Legends were housed within a 100-page book with fully illustrated Wendy's characters, more than 50,000 words, and an in-depth adventure spanning more than 15 hours of gameplay. Gamers wouldn’t just be hearing Wendy's brand messages, they would be acting them out as part of the gameplay. Finally, during gameplay, players receive in-game bonuses for eating Wendy's food and penalties for eating anything else.
At the end of a panel on role-playing games at New York Comic Con the launch of Feast of Legends and partnership with Critical Role was announced, a role-playing game group so popular they’ve been cited as another reason for the commercial and cultural resurgence of Dungeons & Dragons.
Finally, to drive gamers to their game the link to the Feast of Legends microsite was posted across Wendy’s owned social channels.
Results
People joined Wendy’s fight for fresh beef in droves. The game book has been downloaded from FeastofLegends.com more than a quarter-million times, and their launch has generated more than 289 million earned media impressions. Viewers tuned in to Critical Role’s live stream of Feast of Legends and spent an average of 58 minutes watching the fight for fresh beef unfold, and watched more than 98 thousand hours total. Feast of Legends has taken on a life of its own, inspiring fanart, cosplay, in-restaurant game nights, and a fan created community on Reddit.