Back in December of 2009, I wrote an article on here about the things I hate. Number 8 on the list was about my experience at a local Wendy's in Spanish Fork, UT, near highway 6. (929 East 800 North, Store #2572) That entire rant was mostly about the customer service, but this article will focus on the actual quality of their food. --
A few months ago Wendy's introduced a new meat patty dubbed: 'Hot & Juicy'. More like old, barely warm, and dripping with fat! Their whole marketing ploy was that their patties were thicker and "juicier". I guess this lends to a perception that somehow this means better, so I decided to go give it a try. Not surprising, they decided that the new patty would also come with a 10-30% price increase on their whole menu. I ordered a baconator and a small fry. I took it back to the table and opened the wrapper. The "juice" was all over the inside of the wrapper and all over the bun. I took the first bite and realized immediately what they had done. All they did was increase the fat content of the meat, I would guess 70/30 lean to fat ratio. You can tell how much fat content the meat has simply by looking at the chunks of fat inside the patty that look like tapioca. It was just dripping fat. I ate it anyway because I didn't want to waste my money... that turned out to be a mistake. Later that day, I felt a churning in my stomach. The kind that comes only when you've over indulged on grease. Learning from experience, I decided to never get a Wendy's hamburger ever again.
Is 'MOAR MEAT'! better? In generally, I would say yes.... but I hardly consider manufactured, intensely processed fast food meat to be anything but the lowest common denominator. More crap is still crap... just more of it. Sometimes all I want is a simple, inexpensive sandwich that I can eat quickly. The Jr. Cheeseburger was one of those sandwiches. Well, with the new "juicy" patty came a 28% increase in cost and the quality and nutrition went way down hill. -- Not surprised.
Go way back to 2004, the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger was $0.99. It had a bun, Wendy's classic square patty, a little mayo, a piece of lettuce and two strips of bacon. It was a great deal and tasted great. I would often pay for a fry and drink with it as well. In my high school years, I probably spent $1,000 every year at that Wendy's store. My friends and I lived off of Wendy's. Well, they had their way with the menu again. They increased the cost of the sandwich to $1.39 over night, a 28% increase. Being the poor kids we were, we started buying from McDonalds who still sold great sandwiches for $1.00 (and they still do today) My friends, myself and everybody else I knew in high school pretty much quit going to Wendy's after that. It sounds funny, but the JBC was a staple and we were thrifty because we made $5.25/hr. -- Wendy's responded with their signature knee-jerk reaction and "slashed the price" of the burger. "$0.99 JBC is back!". Only to find that the lettuce was tiny, they took one strip of bacon, tore it into two pieces and called it the new JBC. Clearly they realized they made a mistake, their apology was a half hearted cop out and disrespect to each customer who apparently are just sheep to them.
Congratulations Wendy's... you've ruined your food (don't get me started on the fries) and any chances of taking my money ever again. The customer service issues, the blatant cost and quality cutting that come with price increases... Sorry, but your attempt to inflate your profits during a recession is a joke, just like the rest of your business model.
-Serrated
Manual vs automatic... it's a question often asked by Americans. The answer is "automatic" 90% of the time, which really is a travesty of our era. It almost always comes down to a matter of choice, not requirement. The vast majority of the driving public (I'd estimate 99%) are fully capable of driving a manual transmission. I don't buy the argument "some families need an automatic". Baloney. It's only out of laziness and carelessness of consumption that almost all of Americans choose automatic of standard. It's estimated that nearly half of Americans are unable to drive a manual transmission. That is sad and treacherous. I don't buy it. I've never had a problem putting someone behind the wheel of my car and teaching them how to operate a clutch after some simple instruction and determination.
Go anywhere else in the world where fuel is much more expensive. A manual transmission is the rule, not the exception. And the notion that the "new automatic technology" is better than manuals of yesteryear or "the computer can shift better than you can" is preposterous. By nearly ever measure, a vehicle with a manual transmission is able to surpass EPA ratings, whereas automatics tend to fall short of their EPA ratings. Even the new CVT transmissions and fancy electronically controlled transmissions is just the proverbial "polishing of the turd". An archaic manual transmission design from the 60's is still capable of delivering efficiency that's on par with today's automatics.
