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The Orbit of Karma: Why Mocking the Future is a Failing Business Model
Six months ago, as Katy Perry and the first all-woman crew since 1963 broke through the atmosphere aboard a Blue Origin spacecraft, something incredible happened. For a moment, humanity touched the void, pushing the frontier of what's possible just a little further. Down on Earth, however, in the fluorescent-lit back office of a fast-food giant, someone was busy crafting a joke.
Wendy’s, a brand famous for its snarky social media presence, decided to tweet, "I kissed the ground and I liked it," and then, "Can we send her back?"
When I first read those tweets back in April, I honestly just sat back in my chair, speechless. It wasn't anger I felt, but a profound sense of disappointment. Here was a moment of genuine human achievement—a powerful symbol of progress and exploration—and a major corporation’s first instinct was to tear it down for a cheap laugh. It was a perfect, crystalline example of a culture of cynicism, a mindset that sees a rocket ascending and only thinks of a way to mock its trajectory.
This isn't just about a pop star or a burger chain. This is a story about two competing visions for our future. One looks up, and the other looks for the quickest way to pull everything back down to Earth. The question is, which one has a viable business model?
The Gravity of Cynicism
Let's be clear: Wendy's brand of "playful banter" has been its signature for years. But there's a universe of difference between poking fun at a competitor's frozen beef and taking a shot at human aspiration itself. The Blue Origin flight wasn't just a celebrity stunt; it was a technological and cultural milestone. To ridicule it is to fundamentally misunderstand the moment we're living in. It’s like standing on the beach at Kitty Hawk in 1903 and shouting that the flyers look silly. You might get a laugh from the crowd, but history will not remember you kindly.
What does it say about a company's internal culture when its public voice defaults to mockery over wonder? It suggests a deep-seated inability to see the bigger picture. This isn't just about marketing; it's about vision. A company that can't find inspiration in humanity reaching for the stars is a company that is, almost by definition, stuck on the ground.
The immediate backlash on social media was predictable, but Wendy's doubled down, refusing to apologize. They chose their hill—a small, petty mound of snark—and decided to die on it. They were betting that cynicism was still a winning currency. They bet wrong. Because while they were busy crafting 280-character put-downs, the world kept moving, and the market, it turns out, has a long memory for those who bet against progress.
A Failure to Launch
Fast forward six months. Wendy’s just released its third-quarter results, and the numbers tell a story that’s impossible to ignore. U.S. same-store sales are down a staggering 4.7% year-over-year, especially jarring when rivals like McDonald’s are seeing growth. The company’s stock is circling a 52-week low, down nearly 50% for the year. And now, the headline news: they’re closing up to 350 "consistently underperforming" locations.
Katy Perry's manager, Bradford Cobb, simply posted the news of the closures to his Instagram. No gloating caption was needed. The numbers, as detailed in reports like Wendy's To Close 350 Restaurants — Why Katy Perry’s Manager Is Poking Fun - Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN), did the talking. The cosmic receipt had arrived.
Is it possible that the same lack of imagination that fuels snarky tweets also leads to stale business strategies? I believe so. You see it right there in the numbers—that 4.7% drop isn't just a statistic, it's a quiet referendum from a public that is increasingly drawn to inspiration, to progress, to brands that feel like they're part of the solution and not just the snarky commentary from the sidelines. Companies build up something called brand equity—in simpler terms, it’s the trust and goodwill you accumulate over time. Wendy's chose to spend its equity on a joke that punched up at the future itself.
The announcement of new "Tendys" chicken tenders feels almost tragically ironic in this context. While one part of the world is engineering reusable rockets and expanding the human footprint into the cosmos, your big innovation is a new way to serve chicken. It’s a failure of ambition that is now being reflected, quite brutally, on the balance sheet.
The Arc of Innovation Bends Toward the Stars
This isn't just karma; it's a market correction. We're living through a paradigm shift where vision is becoming the most valuable commodity a company can possess. In an age of unprecedented challenges and breathtaking opportunities, the brands that will thrive are the ones that align themselves with the builders, the dreamers, and the explorers. The ones who choose to stand on the sidelines and jeer will find themselves, like those 350 Wendy's locations, quietly and permanently closed. The lesson here is as vast and clear as the night sky: don't bet against the future. You will always lose.