Red Card for Wendy's; Weather Update; Webb Report

Biggie Size This, Wendy's

With the World Cup in full swing, the Curmudgeon thought it appropriate to assess burger giant Wendy's with a red card for its just announced decision to do away with the term "Biggie Size" in connection with its meals.

At first glance, the Curmudgeon thought Wendy's was doing something good--getting rid of the oversized portion associated with "Biggie Size", which would be a step in the right direction. (At least the name is truthful--order it and you will soon be a biggie sized person.)

But no, that's not what Wendy's is doing--not even close. And this was just when the Curmudgeon was about to give Wendy's credit for a new ad promoting it's alternatives to french fries as a side order.

So what is Wendy's doing?

Currently, Wendy's has three soft drink sizes--16 oz., 20 oz. and a 32 oz. tub that it appropriately calls a "Biggie." Under a new regime, Wendy's will simply use the terms "small", "medium" and "large."

But WAIT--get this sleight of hand: now a "small" will be a 20 oz. drink; a "medium" will be a 32 oz. drink, and a "large" will be a whole new size, a 42 oz. drink the size of 3 and half cans of soda!

In other words, what used to be a 32 oz. "Biggie" drink will now be a 32 oz. "medium" drink. And for now on, the Curmudgeon is going to call this "medium" type.

So now, if some unwitting person goes into Wendy's and says to himself or herself, "I think I'll restrain myself today--I'll order a small soda" (or a "medium"--that sounds restrained, right?), he or she will get a 20 oz. monster drink, or worse.

Wendy's will still have a 16 oz. drink (which is still ridiculously large for a soda), but you'll have to find it on the "Value Menu." And they'll still have a 12 oz. kid's drink, but good luck getting that for anyone over the age of 5!

So how did Wendy's explain the move? "We felt like the Biggie designation is not what most customers were used to. Most people were used to small, medium and large," a spokesman said.

Yeah, right. Except that most people expect a small to be, well, small; and a medium to be, well, medium--not three cans of soda!

Frankly, what Wendy's is doing is downright misleading.

Shame on you Wendy's.

Weather Report:

Continuing the Curmudgeon's experiment in evaluating long-range weather forecasts. Five days ago, The Weather Channel forecast that today in Arlington would be sunny, hi of 80 degrees, with only a 20% chance of rain.

Today was sunny and it didn't rain; but the high was only 74. Had the Curmudgeon used the forecast to plan a pool party this afternoon, the kids would have been pretty cold. Based on our criteria, TWC's forecast gets an N, meaning it was not a useful long-range forecast.

Webb Report:

The Virginia Democratic Senate primary race is, as it should be, getting hot and heavy in the press and the blogosphere (although few voters show much interest). My informal poll of neighbors in my very Democratic neighborhood shows them overwhelmingly supporting Webb--for the same reason as the Curmudgeon: they want to beat George Allen in November. But, will they take the time to vote on Tuesday? We hope so.