Wendy's Teams Up With SpongeBob SquarePants

In October, Wendy's launched the "Krabby Patty Kollab," which features two new menu items: a Krabby Patty burger and a Pineapple Under the Sea Frosty. The LTO celebrated the 25th anniversary of "SpongeBob SquarePants." Numerator surveyed verified buyers to gain insight into consumer sentiment around the "kollab." Here's what they learned:

• 78% of buyers said that the Krabby Patty Kollab was the main reason why they ordered.
• 63% of the buyers loved the collaboration with Spongebob while 34% said it was okay but didn't really resonate with them.
• 66% of buyers said Wendy's should absolutely collaborate with other cartoons to offer more special meals while 31% said Wendy's should collaborate but not all the time.
• Buyers first saw that Wendy's was offering the Krabby Patty Kollab on TV (29%), at a Wendy's or driving by a Wendy's restaurant (26%), on Facebook (18%), and on Instagram (12%).
• Buyers said that their top Frosty flavors were chocolate (32%), Pineapple Under the Sea (26%), Orange Dreamsicle (11%), and Vanilla (11%).
• When ordering the Krabby Patty Kollab items, 51% of buyers ordered at the drive-thru, 33% ordered in-store at the front counter, 13% ordered on the Wendy's mobile app, 3% ordered in-store at a kiosk, and 1% ordered through a food delivery service (UberEats, DoorDash, Grubhub).
• If they hadn't purchased the Krabby Patty Kollab meal, 63% of buyers said they would have purchased another meal or item from Wendy's while 34% said they would have purchased food from another restaurant. Buyers said they would have instead gone to Burger King (27%), McDonald's (26%), Chick-fil-A (19%), Taco Bell (9%), another burger chain (6%), another sandwich chain (4%), or KFC (3%).
• 79% of buyers said they enjoyed the look and taste of the Krabby Patty, and 52% would have liked Wendy's to incorporate a sesame seed bun into the Krabby Patty, 23% wanted a round patty, and 23% wanted a large tomato slice.
• 77% enjoyed the Krabby Patty Kollab meal packaging, and 72% would have liked Wendy's to use a SpongeBob-themed Wendy's bag, 56% wanted a SpongeBob-themed Frosty container, and 52% wanted a SpongeBob-themed burger wrapper.
• When asked how they would rate the value of the Krabby Patty Kollab meal, 37% said it was a good value, 33% said it was average, 23% said it was excellent value, 4% said it was poor value, and 3% said it was a very poor value.
• 41% of buyers plan to purchase the Krabby Patty Kollab meal again while 38% said they might purchase again.
• 69% of U.S. households made a purchase at Wendy's in the last 12 months (ending 6/30/2024). The average guest spent $136 during that time frame and visited 11 times.