DUBLIN, OH: Amy Brown, the former "sass master" behind Wendy’s Twitter account, tweeted on Thursday that she had “some things to say” after the fast-food chain said it has never donated to a presidential campaign. And did she ever.
Brown, who left her role as Wendy’s social media manager in 2017, now handles social media and brand marketing for cloud-based design tool Figma. She explained that while Wendy’s statement that it hasn’t donated to President Donald Trump is technically true, the idea that it doesn’t support Trump, “both ideologically and in an indirect financial way by donating to people like [Sens.] Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins, is wrong.”
Brown warned the media not to take the restaurant’s statement at face value.
Wendy’s clarified its stance after it emerged that James Bodenstedt, CEO of Muy! Companies, which franchises hundreds of Wendy’s, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell locations, donated to Trump’s reelection campaign.
“A corporate statement can be technically true but also wildly misleading,” tweeted Brown. “I encourage you to keep digging into how the rich people who run corporations spend their money, because this is not an unusual story.”
Brown explained that Wendy’s has a PAC and staffers are “heavily encouraged” to donate to it.
“They donate almost exclusively to Republican House and Senate candidates,” she tweeted, adding that Wendy’s chairman Nelson Peltz held a Trump fundraiser at his house that raised $10 million.
After #WendysIsOverParty trended for several days on social media, Wendy’s tweeted Wednesday night that it is donating $500,000 to “social justice.” The fast-food chain noted, “Our voice would be nothing without black culture.”
i have some things to say but first i would like to clarify: none of what i am about to say has to do with why i left this company, and i do not intend to disparage but rather lay out the facts so you can investigate them for yourself. https://t.co/qCJQDC8YeI
— amy brown (@arb) June 4, 2020
2. the chairman of the board of wendy's, nelson peltz, held a trump fundraiser at his house that raised $10 millionhttps://t.co/GJtP3kEfqH
— amy brown (@arb) June 4, 2020
i know they're watching but i don't believe i have violated the legal terms of my separation agreement by tweeting this thread.
— amy brown (@arb) June 4, 2020
whoops i have a correction: it's not a super PAC, it's just a regular PAC. i apologize for the error.
— amy brown (@arb) June 4, 2020
and to the media: google is not hard. if you're taking their statement at face value, you're not doing your job.https://t.co/kymsK6mTit
— amy brown (@arb) June 4, 2020
Brown told PRWeek she has no further comment beyond her tweets. Representatives from Wendy's and PR partner Ketchum could not be reached for comment.
