How about “Their food sucks now.”
When I worked at a Wendy’s in high school, we cooked the burgers hot ‘n’ juicy, as per their slogan. So we had a constant supply of patties on the grill. If a patty got overcooked, we put it in a refridgerated pan and used that meat later to make chili.
But now, what we would’ve put aside as chili meat is now served in the sandwiches. Bleah!
A good rule of thumb, I’ve found out, is:
Never believe anything your girlfriend says
Off the subject, I know. I just wanted to thank you for that. And, no, I’m not being sarcastic.
**
Yes and no. The majority of Wendy’s Restaurants are owned by franchisees, but (according to their annual report here) there are some(including the ones I worked at in the Kansas City area) which are owned by Wendy’s International.
FTR, the ones I worked at were queer as the day was long, and I maintain that the only thing of any appreciable value I got from working at Wendy’s was my boyfriend-at-the-time, and my pattern of having gay bosses. 
mm
I dated a guy who was not the butchest number in the universe who was a manager at Wendy’s. But, I’ve also read that Dave Thomas is a big homophobe. I’ve also heard the same about Carl’s Jr. and Domino’s Pizza. I’ve never seen substatiation for Carl’s or Domino’s. But, with the fervor that my friends put forth about it, I’m inclined to wonder.
Anyone have some hard facts about them?
I don’t know what Carl’s is, but I’ve had a couple of gay friends get jobs at Domino’s. I’ve heard plenty of stories, but have never seen real proof of overall discriminatory practices by any of the big food chains. Doesn’t mean it’s never happened, just means nobody’s been able to show me decent evidence.
Some restaurants which have definitely done some discriminatory things:
Burger King Corporation: Pulled advertising from a TV show with gay themes. (Ellen, I believe.)
Chick-fil-A: Refuses to hire men who wear earrings. (One franchisee, IIRC.)
Cracker Barrel: Fired several openly gay employees and refused to give their jobs back. (This was a big one, I recall. They actually instituted a written policy saying that this was okay. They retracted it under pressure, but that doesn’t mean it still isn’t unofficial policy…)
Denny’s: Some individual stores have had problems.
Dominos: The owner supports conservative groups, some of which are anti-gay.
McDonalds: Pulled ads from a gay-themed show.
Wendys did make the list for the same offense as McD’s and BK.
http://www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay/comdiscr.htm
Yer pal,
Satan
*I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Six months, one week, three days, 17 hours, 41 minutes and 32 seconds.
7749 cigarettes not smoked, saving $968.68.
Extra life with Drain Bead: 3 weeks, 5 days, 21 hours, 45 minutes.
I slept with a REPUBLICAN moderator!*
I have a hard time defining pulling advertisements from a gay-themed television show as discriminatory. IMHO, I think you’ll find it to be more of a tactical move. Perhaps every person gained as a customer by the advertising on a gay-themed television show would be nulled in profit by a pre-existing conservative customer going elsewhere in protest of the support of same show. In this case, it seems more logical to place advertising in a forum which would result in the attraction of new customers, and no loss of existing ones.
Business is business, and it’s not always about doing what’s morally right in even your own eyes. If you’re going to make money, which is the primary goal of most corporations who are after profit, and market share, then you have to make the hard decisions like that.
According to one website, they’re homophobic because “Wendy’s doesn’t offer domestic-partnership benefits”. Do any fast food restaurants have this perk?
Satan, I’d be cautious about putting too much stock in that website; it appears to be pretty poorly researched.
Just to cite one example, they mis-identify former Domino’s owner Tom Monahan as Frank Meeks. They also mischaracterize his charitable bent: He gives primarily to Catholic organizations. One can argue (in GD, of course 
) that Catholic organizations are or are not anti-gay, but it is a distinction from “anti-gay” organizations. Finally, they identify him as “owner.” His ownership was reduced to ~35 percent by a recent LBO. The controlling shareholder of Domino’s is now Bain Capital, whom I assure you has only one bias: they are pro profit.
Well, is pulling advertising really that bad? I mean, okay, it may imply homophobia, but if they don’t want to support a show for whatever reason, there’s no law saying they HAVE to.
Fast food places offer benefits? Since when? Unless you’re a big wig…
In my opinion, there are an awful lot more serious examples of homophobia out there than the tenuous connection between fast-food chains and occasional “bad apples” of individual stores and occasional incidents.
And, in my opinion, there are a lot more meaningful ways to show support for those of us with sexual and/or gender issues than skipping the Spicy Chicken combo at Wendys. If you could focus your magic microscope on every business in America, you would likely find that people are fired and forced to quit all the time for racial, sexual, ethnic, gender, etc. differences at most of them. Why? Because everywhere you go you are likely to find occasional small-minded, evil, hateful, bigoted people in management positions. It is the way life works.
This is terrible, of course. But unless it is a business that has a blatant policy of willful discrimination, or willful acceptance of discrimination, I can’t really justify boycotting most of them.
In my opinion only, of course.
This sounds like an urban legend. Points 3 and 5 are just ninth-hand rumours. Wendy’s probably pulled their ads from “Ellen” because the show’s ratings were dropping prior to the big coming out episode and started dropping again afterwards, and the fact that Thomas donate money to GOP candidates is not a basis for accusing him of bigotry.
I find it strange that every company that pulls ads from “Ellen” is accused of being biased. “Ellen” was losing viewers. They had a very logical reason to stop paying for thsoe ads.
Given the thousands of Wendy’s stores, I’d be amazed if some manager somewhere wasn’t a racist.
Funny thing you know, tonite before Will and Grace, there was ole Dave Thomas in a Wendy’s commercial. Right before the opening. And why are you calling these practices “homophobic”. I may not like cats but it doesn’t mean I am afraid of them.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s company-wide policy. I read about it in the newspaper a while back. They’re an ultra-Christian company; they even close the store on Sundays. When asked if they would hire homosexuals the owner/CEO/president/whatever replied “It depends on the situation.” WTF is that supposed to mean? Macho gay guys can work there, but flamers can’t? Hmmm. I guess it was just a polite way of saying “HELL NO!”
I don’t know if Dave Thomas is a homophobe or not, but he may be conservative, either way it is his thing. I am straight and not a homophobe, I work with and have friends that are both straight and gay. We haven’t noticed any overt or covert anti gay activities from the local Wendys. The franchise owner is straight and his manager is gay, very active in the gay community and gay rights arena.
The owner (founder?) of Chick-fil-A is a devout Mormon. I guess that makes Chick-fil-A a “Mormon” company. While not Mormon myself, I have respect for a business owner who would forego some profits for the sake of personal beliefs.
Re Satan’s post with the list of discriminatory actions. It seems to me there is a tendency to lump actual discrimination (hiring/firing/promotional practices) with lack of advertising support. How does not running ads discriminate against someone? I may not like it if a company refuses to spend money to support a group/position I favor, but I would be hard-pressed to claim I was the victim of a discrimination.
Of course, I am referring to “discrimination” in the narrower, legal sense usually applied to these types of discussions, not in the “let us take a discriminating look” at a particular subject.
> “Wendy’s doesn’t offer domestic-partnership benefits”
I worked there in college, & there were NO benefits, unless you count 1/2-price food (free if the manager wasn’t looking ).
I’m upset at them for taking out their Superbars.
Not to be insensitive, but I love the Wendy’s bacon and cheese potato and will continue to buy it. It seems to me that Mr. Thomas is entitled to his views. Something about free speech and all of that.
I’d have to say, John, that the trend of the thread indicates you can be back on Biggie fries tomorrow, guilt-free and ready to vote.
