Wendy's Quietly Celebrates 40th Anniversary

This year has been one of 40th anniversary celebrations. Woodstock, the NASA moonwalk and Sesame Street have all been commemorated as watershed moments in American history and popular culture in 2009.

But another iconic American institution has been celebrating its 40th with little fanfare. Wendy's fast food burger chain will officially turn 40 on Nov. 15; the day founder Dave Thomas opened his first restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. So why are they being so quiet about it?

On the company's Web site there's no mention of the anniversary and its television commercials avoid any reference to the big 40.

Kitty Munger, Wendy's director of communications, says the company decided it didn't want a flashy national campaign that would call attention to the anniversary.

"We're saving it for the big one," Munger says about the company's 50th in 2019. "We haven't done anything at the restaurant level; no rollback to original prices. It's just not part of the plan."

Munger says that the decision to not put on the party hats isn't an economic one and isn't because of the recession. (She said the organization just hired a new advertising agency.)

In September, the company did make a small gesture to acknowledge the event. They offered a handful of popular items -- Frostys, chili, the sour cream and chives potato and the Double Stack burger -- for 99 cents each.

Then there was a brief burst of excitement when online coupons began appearing during the summer, offering 25-cent Wendy's cheeseburgers at all locations. But the coupons turned out to be fake and Wendy's posted a fraud alert on its Web site.

Not everyone is refusing to party like it's 1969. Local franchisees have seized the opportunity to promote the 40th anniversary tie-in (and avoid being party poopers) by joining forces with area television and radio stations for contest giveaways. (Munger says that local promotions were approved by the corporate office.)

Seattle radio station KISW-FM has been offering a winning listener 40 free bacon deluxe cheeseburgers, Wendy's newest burger offering. Z-100, a popular New York City radio station, has partnered with Wendy's to give one winner 40 tickets to the station's Jingle Ball -- a December concert headlined by Taylor Swift and John Mayer. And in New Orleans, a television station is giving away 39 $10 gift cards, while a grand prize winner will receive a $100 Wendy's certificate.

So while world's third largest burger chain has decided not to make a big deal about its 40th anniversary, we at Slashfood would like to send our own congratulations. You don't look a day over 39.