The Wednesday Meal at Burger King.

During the same week in October, both Wendy’s and Burger King competed for the ultimate collab. The two hit food chains released themed meals: Burger King with an Addams family meal, and Wendy’s releasing a Krabby patty meal. Both restaurants have seen countless reviews of their new products, some better than others.  Now, it’s the Cub’s turn to see for ourselves!

On October 8, 2024, Wendy’s launched a collaboration with Nickelodeon’s “Spongebob Squarepants.” This meal includes a side of fries, their “Pineapple Under the Sea Frosty,” and the famous “Krabby Patty.” 

Their new Frosty is a regular vanilla Frosty with pineapple flavoring. The pineapple flavoring is inspired by Spongebob’s lovely home. Reviews claim that it’s mostly a regular Wendy’s burger but with a new sauce. It seems like someone beat Plankton to the secret recipe…The collaboration ends in early November, being around for less than a month. The main reason is to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary, the first episode having been released in 1999. 

Getting in the Halloween spirit this year, Burger King released an Addams family meal on October 10th. This meal includes a “Wednesday Whopper,” a classic whopper made with Swiss cheese and placed between two of its signature purple potato buns. It also comes with onion rings in a specially decorated sleeve based on Addams family character Thing, called “Things Rings.” Along with those items, there are “Gomez’s Churro Fries” which are exactly what they sound like – churros. Lastly, for dessert, Burger King came up with “Morticia’s Kooky Chocolate Shake,” a drink filled with chocolate chips and topped with Halloween-themed cookie pieces.

Before the event could end, we went to Wendy’s to try the Krabby Patty Kollab. We got all three items included in the meal—the burger, fries, and frosty. The packaging wasn’t anything special, everything was wrapped and packaged like every other item on the menu. The only noticeable difference was the Frosty, which has yellow syrup on both the sides and bottom. I was not impressed. But of course, the taste matters most. 

The restaurant itself was decorated with Spongebob-themed decor. They had silly pictures of the cast on the windows and jellyfish-themed lights. You could see the little yellow sponge almost everywhere you looked! Now, it is time for the taste review.

The meal was…nothing special. The burger itself was almost like a regular Wendy’s burger but with an added sweet and spicy sauce. It also comprises their buns, lettuce, tomato, pickles, a meat patty, and cheese. The burger itself was good. It tasted like any other burger, but the sauce added a nice kick. Still, it does not live up to the “Krabby Patty.” If this is what has the Bikini Bottom in a chokehold, then something fishy is going on there.

 The fries were good, but just regular Wendy’s fries. They had a nice crunch and were salted well. The biggest difference was the “Pineapple Under the Sea Frosty.” It had more of a mango taste in my opinion. Even if it didn’t meet my expectations, I still found it enjoyable. Taste-wise, it was pretty good. The pineapple syrup was more sugary than refreshing, but the Frosty wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet. While it lacked originality points, it was still both fun and enjoyable to eat. My review isn’t the only one that thinks the same, “It’s REALLY good,” said student Avalee Santana. 

True to our review, we also went to Burger King to try the Addams Family Meal. We tried the burger and the onion rings, but the shake and churros quickly sold out almost everywhere we went. Presentation-wise, Burger King went all out. The burger, of course, was all purple and fit the Wednesday theme well. They even considered the only item that was already on the menu, placing Things rings in a specially made sleeve with Thing printed over it. From other reviews and pictures, we can also see that the churros were placed in a box decorated with Gomez’s face, and the shake in a cup fit for the belle of the Addams, Morticia. The only one missing is Pugsley, who seems to be left out of his family. In terms of presentation, Burger King takes the lead! 

Similar to the presentation, the taste of this meal was also great. The Whopper itself was loaded with onions, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. Surprisingly, the cheese is what pulled the burger together and made it stand out the most. The onion rings tasted like they always do, kind of soggy but still good nonetheless. As for the churros, it seemed most people also enjoyed them. When asked about the meal, Ethan Hudyka said, “I only got the churros but they were good.” The milkshake also has similar reviews, mostly positive.

On the other hand, there were a few individuals at Ludlow High who were not impressed by the meal. One dully described the sandwich, only saying, “It was okay.” Another person with a similar opinion said, “It’s literally the same as a normal Whopper, but they put Swiss cheese on it.” While that might be true, I still think the cheese ties the meal together. Ending on a high note, we had a positive review from student Isabella Leutsch: “Mmm it was delicious. It was also very purple. Like more purple than I thought it was gonna be.” 

Comparing the two meals, we are rating them based on presentation, taste, and originality. 

The first comparison is the presentation. Burger King came out with newly made and decorated containers for all their food items. They even went so far as to make their burger purple—that’s called dedication. Wendy’s didn’t have anything going on with the packaging, only the restaurant’s interior was decorated. You wouldn’t be able to tell their new sandwich apart from another. Burger King has the obvious advantage here.

Taste-wise, both were good. Even though it wasn’t as original, all three parts of the “Krabby Patty Kollab” were tasty. For Burger King, the onion rings—”Things Rings”—tasted funny. They were soggy and had more of an onion powder flavor, but overall were still fine. Still, the Swiss cheese along with the burger brought out the flavor. For Wendy’s, the burger was also good. The fries were much better than the onion rings as well. Still, Burger King had the best-tasting burger. Not only that, but they had an array of options from the churros to the shake. Once again, Burger King earns a point.

When it comes to originality, only one food chain can claim the crown. Wendy’s had the same fries, a regular burger with a new sauce, and a regular vanilla Frosty with pineapple syrup.  Burger King created new burger buns and added Swiss cheese, a new chocolate shake, and brought churros to their menus. Only the onion rings were a previous menu item. Clearly, one of the restaurants hadn’t put much thought into this.

From creativity and palate to display and flavor, the best meal has it all. In the battle of Wendy’s vs. Burger King, Spongebob vs. The Addams, only one takes the throne… without hesitation, The Cub announces Burger King with “The Addams Family” meal as the winner!