In January 2023, Wendy’s Canada planned to bring back its Bacon Portabella Mushroom Melt burger – or the BPMM as it’s known by its most ardent fans. Limited Time Only (LTO) promotions are very important to Wendy’s, they drive traffic and bring ‘new news’ to the menu – and the BPMM itself is a very limited time only offering. It shows up for a little over a month each year, with mystery surrounding when it’s going to drop. Sometimes Wendy’s brings it back in the Fall, sometimes in the Winter – it’s really a guessing game for fans of the burger.

Our challenge was to make it news that the Bacon Portabella Mushroom Melt was back for a very limited time.

The Wendy’s Melt Lamp, the first Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) light made by a… burger company?

Light therapy is an increasingly popular way to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) but requires special lights that emit more UV than a standard house lamp. Lux is a measurement of light intensity, and light therapy usually requires around 10,000 lux.

We thought we’d bring some much-needed light therapy to Canadians, in the form of the iconic BPMM. The “Melt Lamp,” with a 10,000-lux intensity, is shaped just like the popular burger. And like its melty, ooey-gooey namesake burger, it too helps melt away the winter blues.

January is just such an unfortunate month. It’s right after the holidays, a time when everyone has far too much fun.

January is the month of silly healthy-eating resolutions, frigid days, and what seems like a month-long solar eclipse.

January is just awful. And people feel awful in January. Over one-third of Canadians report experiencing the winter blues each year, and 15% report experiencing the more clinical Seasonal Affective Disorder in their lifetime. This compares to just 5% of adults in the United States.

But what if we could change that and bring a little more joy, a little more happiness to the sad month of January?

If anything could melt away the winter blues, it’s the Bacon Portabella Mushroom Melt. A burger that legions of loyal fans demand is brought back to Wendy’s every year. What if we could bring a little longevity to this fan favourite LTO?

We worked with SAD-light specialists to develop a lamp in the iconic shape of a Bacon Portabella Mushroom Melt that featured all the technology needed to help resolve the nasty effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

To get it into the hands of our fans, we ran a Twitter contest on Blue Monday – or should we say Melt Monday – that gave them a chance to win a Melt Lamp.

We also sent a lamp to our “saddest fan” - a BPMM super fan who has constantly pestered our Wendy’s social team about when the burger would make its return.

We then sent one to a prominent Canadian meteorologist (now that’s an unenviable job), to soften the blow of their next forecast for “more winter.”

Finally, we brought it to Wendy’s restaurants so people could enjoy the two saving graces of Canadian winter: the BPPM and the new Melt Lamp.

The campaign was an immediate hit, with over 200,000 Canadians being brought a little Melt-lamp induced brightness on social media at the depth of a frigid winter.

Sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, with 84% positive sentiment seen throughout the campaign period (including “Blue Monday”, the saddest day of the year.)

All this excitement and positivity led to significant sales increases for the family of Bacon Portabella Mushroom Melt products, including a unit sales increase of 58% and a product-associated revenue increase of 62% vs. the year prior on digital channels.

And it brought a little bit of permanence to one of Canada’s favourite limited-time-only menu item.