Blast from the past: My “cease and desist” letter from the Wendy’s burger chain

Click the nastygram to see it at full size.

Way back in 2005, I found a segment of a video titled Grill Skills, which Wendy’s used to train its minions on the finer points of burger-making back in 1989. The segment I found featured a really cheesy rap on how to make a Wendy’s burger. It was a product of its time, and silly as it was, in my opinion, it didn’t do any harm to the Wendy’s image.

I posted it on this blog, and months later, got the nastygram pictured above (and yes, Wendy’s HQ’s address is One Dave Thomas Boulevard, a street named after its founder). I recently scanned it, and thought I’d share it with you. Ah, lawyers — why haven’t we followed Shakespeare’s advice yet?

If you’re curious about the video, someone’s posted the full video on YouTube. Catch it before they get the takedown notice! As for the cheesy rap, it starts at the 4:00 mark. Enjoy!

For more about this video, read this archived copy of an article from The Wave magazine.