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By Doug Zanger, Americas Editor

March 4, 2016 | 2 min read

Fast-food burger chain Wendy’s launched a (strange) new website slamming their competitors’ use of frozen patties. Othr Guyz doesn’t directly name McDonald’s and Burger King, but it is clear that the site is intended as a shot across the bow to their be-arched and be-kinged rivals.

Visitors are treated to a wide array of uses of the “Freezy Diskz” products on the site, while a video (with a cameo by actor Lou Ferrigno) plays a prominent role at the top of the home page. There is also a Spanish-language page featuring a video where visitors can get a glimpse of how the frozen patties have mystical qualities.

The site is part of a wider change by the brand, shifting its tagline to “Deliciously different” from “Now that’s better,” in an effort to differentiate itself from the top two burger chains. Recently, the company overhauled their burgers, bun and all, and felt that the tagline move reflected customer feedback more directly.

For years, Wendy’s has positioned itself as the purveyor of fresh beef and has updated their iconic “Where’s the beef?” line to “Where’s the beef from?” in one ad, a nod to product sourcing transparency, which has become a more frequent refrain from the public — and makes sense in the context that Wendy’s competitors are known to buy meat from as far away as Australia, requiring the flash-freezing process the company is skewering on the site.

The burger business is competitive in the US and McDonald’s is gaining momentum with a recently reported 5.7 per cent increase in US same-store sales in Q4 2015. Wendy’s same-store sales increased 4.8 per cent in the quarter that ended January 3rd.

Sources: Ad Age and Yahoo Finance

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