Wendy’s, the No. 2 quick-service burger restaurant (QSR) chain in America, was founded on the idea that even in a category known for mass-produced consistency, there was an opportunity for differentiation. The brand was born in 1969 in direct opposition to the QSR category leader, McDonald’s, thus embedding differentiation in Wendy’s brand DNA. This is most notably represented in Wendy’s use of fresh beef, when the majority of the category opts for frozen.

Although fast food is a business based on serving the masses, our most important differentiator is that we have always believed the “masses” consist of individuals we have an opportunity to connect with. While McDonald’s touts billions served on its signs, Wendy’s takes a more individualized approach.

Therefore, our challenge is to drive differentiation and distinction for the Wendy’s brand through an individualized approach within the highly homogenous QSR category.

Carter Wilkerson, at 17 years old, used Twitter to request free nuggets from Wendy’s, which became a global viral sensation. We created #NationalRoastDay when individual Twitter users asked to be roasted by Wendy’s, then they proudly shared their roasts as a point of pride. In short, Wendy’s transforms individual ordinary moments into collective extraordinary moments.

So when the mother of 7-year-old Julien Jantos shared her son’s crayon drawing and storyboard for a Wendy’s commercial via Twitter, we knew we could do something seriously special and connect with young vision and talent.

Our idea was to turn this individual interaction into a larger collective interaction all about the Wendy’s brand and one young fan by bringing the commercial to life.

Rather than simply replying with another tweet, we decided to let our actions speak louder than our tweets and bring our young fan’s vision to life and share it with our 3.7 million Twitter followers.

Twitter moves at breakneck speed, and what is in vogue and relevant one day might be completely irrelevant the next. Wendy’s has a proven history of timely replies that become news, so we knew we needed to act as quickly as possible to create, approve and post our co-creation.

Knowing time was of the essence, the remote work nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Julien had created this ad by himself, it inspired us to do the same by creating an actual commercial.

Gathering virtually over video chat, we began meticulously sourcing stock footage to match the look and feel of the source material provided to us by Julien’s mom. We art directed each frame of his original ad to match it as closely as possible. We let his vision shine through with the crayons he originally chose. He wrote the copy as supers originally, and we honored his work by doing the same and setting the words over each scene as he had laid out.

Next, in a moment of creative inspiration, we composed a custom music track to truly capture the lively energy coursing through the spot.

Then we edited the video ourselves to match the playful pacing and tone in our final version, finally sending it to his mother for approval before posting our newest commercial.

In 413 minutes, we completed a spot and secured approval from Julien’s mother to share his creation. And like any artwork from a child, it was instantly met with praise and joy from the internet at large.

One ad from one young Wendy’s fan quickly turned into millions of warmed hearts, 1.1 million earned media impressions, and 2 million organic Twitter impressions. In just a few hours, we created an ad and a memory that will last a lifetime. Thank you, Julien.