Funny! In the midst of running around getting things done today, the kids and I stopped at at at Wendys, which we hadn’t done for quite a lot time. To see this story on Fox News today made me laugh as I experienced the “shift” in size names today.
The Biggie portion size, formerly the fast food restaurant’s equivalent of a large, will now be called a medium. It’s only a name change, and the portion customers get — the equivalent of almost three 12-ounce cans of soda for the drinks — won’t get smaller.
Wendy’s International Inc. research shows demand for big drinks, but people were confused by the designation of Biggie and Great Biggie, the former extra-large size, spokesman Denny Lynch said. Switching to a more straightforward small, medium and large sizes made sense, he said.
The nation’s third-largest burger chain has used the Biggie designation since the early 1990s.
The Great Biggie, equal to 3 1/2 12-ounce cans of soda, will now be classified as a large. Medium portions will be bumped down to small sizes.
So, in other words we continue to focus on dumbing things down for us Americans. But see, I figured it out! They basically don’t have a small any more, their “medium” became a small, and so on, and so forth. All I know is that I wanted a medium, and the guy behind the counter was kind enough to say “um, you may want a small.” To myself, I was thinking “um, NO…if I had wanted a small, I would have ORDERED a small!” until he showed me what the small cup looked like. …and so I got a small! And they were worried that “Biggie” and “Great Biggie” were confusing?!?!?!?
It was nice to see an expanded menu, though!
Wendy’s says it has made several changes to give customers healthier choices, including offering salads, chili, baked potatoes or yogurt instead of fries with combo meals.
I do find it rather amusing that their reason for changing the drink size names was to appease fast food critics who complain that the fast food industry is increasing portion sizes and contributing to the obesity epidemic. Um, how does this appease anyone, truly? I think the solution is clear. Let the customers order the size they wish to have and let *them* be in control of their food choices. Novel idea, I do believe! 
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Why not price and sell soft drinks by the ounce, instead of by some confusing, non-standardized system of cup sizes. The technology is already available in the form of metering dispensers. This would also eliminate the 'ice variable' that plagues the cup system.
Soft drink orders would be straightforward: "Give me 12 ounces of Coke, and pour 6 ounces of grape soda for the kid." The fast food lines would move faster without the servers needing to explain the cup size system again and again. You would be less likely to pay for pop you couldn't drink.
Customers wouldn't have to do math in their heads to figure the price per ounce. Sometimes the bigger size isn't really the bigger value. The word "Biggie" could return to the public domain, where it has been missed.
I don't care for soft drinks too much anyways. I thought "Good for Wendy's" when this news story came on but when they clarified that they were actually changing the sizes, only the name, I was disappointed.
Clinton must be writing their ad copy......I did NOT sleep with THAT woman.....and this is a "Big Boned Coke", not a "Biggie".
The guy must have liked you, the cashier went along in my case. I wonder if we can sue them for this, I think it's immoral. Unfortunately immoral is not illegal.
