Wendy’s is no longer going to promote its W cheeseburger nationally.
The W, introduced late last year, was intended to be a midtier burger (originally $2.99 and later raised to $3.19) that would boost profit and sales, priced between the 99-cent menu and the more premium Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy burger. Stephen Hare, Wendy’s chief financial officer, said during its first-quarter conference call Tuesday that the W burger had not achieved the desired results.
The W was meant to get customers who use the 99-cent menu to trade up, but Wendy’s saw the opposite effect, with customers who typically bought the more expensive burgers trading down.
“The positioning of ‘W’ clearly was not where it needed to be,” Mr. Hare said. “As a result, we will not promote the ‘W’ again nationally.