Who could forget where they were when they first learned of the Wendy's Baconator? Perhaps
one of the most iconic fast food burgers ever, the Baconator helped put Wendy's back on the
map. Let's dive into the untold truth of this bacon cheeseburger legend.
The Baconator launched in 2007 as part of an effort to revive Wendy's following the
2002 death of its founder, Dave Thomas. Back then, the number three burger chain was hurting,
and offers were on the table from rival companies. The franchise had suffered from lower sales
for a few years after Thomas passed, and those who are old enough to remember might be able
to understand why. His appearances in Wendy's commercials were always heart-warming and
fun to watch. The company couldn't seem to match the marketing magic that was Dave Thomas
until the brilliant and aptly named Baconator came around.
Dave Thomas left a lasting legacy, of course. Former Wendy's head honcho Kerrii Anderson
told The New York Times in 2007,
"The legacy of Dave Thomas creates a powerful foundation for Wendy's and allows my job to
be easier."
With that said, imagine how successful a Baconator ad would have been with Dave Thomas' endorsement.
In 2007, when then-Wendy's CEO Kerrii Anderson helped roll out the Baconator, she openly
admitted that the meat-lover mega-sandwich was definitely designed to appeal to a particular
demographic — 18- to 34-year-old males, which at the time were the most common fast
food consumers.
"This salad is really good, you want a bite?"
"No no, thank you, I'm a meatitarian."
The Baconator vision came while Wendy's was trying to reinvigorate both its menu and its
marketing. The efforts paid off and the sandwich definitely boosted the brand's status. The
following year, Anderson reported that Wendy's was developing a "Go Wrap" chicken sandwich
for its Snack and Value menu, but this time in an effort to appeal to women. While this
might seem like gender stereotyping in today's world, the numbers regarding men and fast
food at the time apparently don't lie.
Those wraps didn't stand the test of time, yet all these years later, the Baconator is
still holding strong. So, do we have young, cheeseburger-lovin' bros to thank for the
Baconator? Yes, it seems like we do.
To say the Baconator took the fast food world by storm when it first launched would be a
bit of an understatement. This bacon cheeseburger arrived in a full-on blaze of glory. Within
two months, the company sold 25 million sandwiches to hungry meat-eaters. In the summer of 2007,
a few months after Baconator mania took hold, then-CEO Kerrii Anderson told Business Wire,
"This is one of the most successful new product introductions we've had in some time."
"May I get you all a Baconator?"
"Yes."
Commercials from the fall of 2007 really highlighted the popularity of the Baconator. The biggest
selling points were, well, the bacon, and the longstanding Wendy's promise of fresh,
never frozen, beef. It furthered this message with famous ads like the Kicking Trees commercial,
which was the most-watched TV advertisement of June 2007. In a way, it cross-promoted
the Baconator by reiterating that anything involving beef from Wendy's was gonna be fresh
and tasty. The massive success of the Baconator in its early launch was no doubt a part of
Wendy's revival both in sales and advertising.
Look, not everyone can be the Baconator. We're looking at you, Spicy Baconator, may you rest
in peace. In March of 2008, Wendy's tried to top its Baconator success story with another
Baconator success story. The chain extended its brand with a spicier version of the cheeseburger.
Long story short, it's not on the menu today.
While the commercials were cute, for some reason, Americans just didn't take to the
spicy version of this bacon-on-beef classic. NYC Food Guy, a New York-based food critic,
certainly didn't give the burger a glowing review. He wrote,
"The jalapeños and chipotle ranch sauce soggied up the top bun while overpowering the entire
burger with slightly spicy acidity."
Needless to say, it didn't get the same warm welcome as the Baconator. Wendy's does serve
a few variations of the Bacon Jalapeño Cheeseburger, though.
In 2012, Wendy's tried to appeal to customers who really wanted a Baconator but couldn't
bring themselves to justify consuming a half-pound of beef with six strips of bacon in one sitting.
For those who wanted a little less pork and beef, the company launched a baby Baconator,
dubbed the "Son of Baconator." Cute, isn't it?
The mini version of the Baconator made you feel a little less guilty. Instead of two
quarter-pounders and six slices of bacon, this sandwich served up two patties that weighed
2.25 ounces each with four slices of bacon.
The Son of Baconator is alive and well, still on the menu today, but it only has four ounces
of beef, as opposed to 4.5 total ounces. It also has 670 calories while its Dad, the original
Baconator, has 960.
According to popular food blogger L.A. Foodie, Wendy's Baconator Fries were the result of
a culinary collaboration brought forth by a mutual love of bacon. The blogger reportedly
received an invitation in August of 2015 to hang out with Top Chef star Spike Mendelsohn
at a Southern California Wendy's location. Both food lovers got behind the grill at this
new Wendy's outpost and decided to enhance several menu items with, you guessed it, more
bacon.
Mendelsohn supposedly upgraded the Baconator by whipping up a chili cheese version of the
sandwich after he had already added some bacon to the chili. They then doused some fries
with cheese and bacon and called it a day — a day forever known as the one where Baconator
Fries proudly entered the world. The fries were supposedly a limited-time-only item when
they were first introduced back in 2015, yet they're still on the Wendy's menu, ready for
consumption.
When Burger King started selling the Bacon King in 2016, it felt like shade had officially
been thrown at Wendy's. This cheeseburger was eerily similar: half a pound of beef topped
with lots of bacon, cheese, ketchup, and mayo.
Chron. writer Ken Hoffman compared the two and found that the only differences he could
detect were a few more cheese slices on the Bacon King and the presence of sesame seeds
on its bun. The Bacon King is still on Burger King's menu, but it's safe to say it comes
nowhere near the Baconator's status as fast food bacon cheeseburger royalty, despite the
obvious similarities.
The Baconator is a versatile sandwich. It's great for satiating any intense bacon cravings
you might have, filling up your stomach on a long road trip, and, oh, stashing your weed
when the cops come rolling through to search your car. Actually, scratch that last part.
It turns out stuffing drugs in a burger isn't effective for avoiding a citation for drug
possession.
In 2016, police in Milton, West Virginia got a call about a shady car milling about in
a Wendy's parking lot. The car contained four individuals and some Wendy's grub. The K-9
units allegedly snuffed out some marijuana, which police reported was, quote, "hiding"
in a Baconator. The suspect in question tried to claim that a Wendy's employee must have
placed the pot in the sandwich, but as the Milton Police Department put it on their Facebook
account,
"Wendys.com shows that marijuana is not a standard ingredient for a Baconator."
One would initially assume that there can't possibly be anything unhealthier than a Baconator,
with its half-pound of beef topped with six slices of bacon and American cheese, plus
mayo and ketchup, all held together by a white-flour, quote, "premium bun." However, there are actually
at least seven contenders that beat out the Baconator for the title of unhealthiest bacon
cheeseburger.
According to Eat This, Not That!, a brand dedicated to healthier eating, of those seven
really unhealthy fast food burgers that top the Baconator in calorie and fat content,
the biggest offender is the Triple Meat Whataburger from Whataburger. It weighs in at 1,885 calories,
84 grams of fat, and 2,080 milligrams of sodium, while the Baconator by comparison has only
960 calories, 66 grams of fat, and 1,540 milligrams of sodium.
Wendy's has a troubled history when it comes to breakfast. The chain initially tried to
launch a morning menu in 1985 but pulled the plug after only nine months of slinging eggs.
It attempted in earnest to serve breakfast again in 2007, and then again in 2012, but
still couldn't quite gain Egg McMuffin-level traction.
It's now quite clear what the problem was all along — there wasn't a Baconator breakfast
option! Cut to September of 2019 when Wendy's once again announced plans to give breakfast
another go. In February of 2020, the morning menu offerings started cropping up again at
different locations. They included a Breakfast Baconator and a Frosty-ccino, in perhaps another
effort to capitalize on what they know already works. Wendy's president Kurt Kane described
the contents of the Baconator breakfast sandwich as,
"A fresh-cracked egg, signature sausage patty and six strips of Applewood smoked bacon."
Hey, just don't call it a comeback ... actually, in this case, you probably can.
Nothing cements a menu item in the fast food hall of fame quite like an official Pringles
flavor. In June of 2020, Wendy's and Pringles announced that they were partnering to make
a bacon, cheese, and beef-flavored chip.
Like many other establishments, Wendy's has created an app featuring incentives for using
it, and one of those incentives incorporates the Pringles partnership. You can score a
free Baconator, Son of Baconator, or Breakfast Baconator with any order on the app if you
enter a code found under the lid of a Baconator Pringles can. You can find this flavor anywhere
you normally purchase potato chips, except maybe on airplanes.
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