Wendy’s is rising awareness of foster children in Canada with a story of the lonely “I” letter that meets its alphabet family and starts a happy life together with them.
The 2-minute animated video, “The Story of I,” is created by MacLaren McCann, Canada for Dave Thomas Foundation, a charity started by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas as a foster care adoption agency. The emotional story sees the young letter I (in the spot, it is pictured as i) that has to face the life without no one by his side. Finally, the alphabet kid meets new mother (“M”) and father (“F”) as well as the rest letters (“A,” “L,” and “Y”) and makes up a real family with them.
The spot’s mission is to put the foster children problem in the spotlight, not to raise any funds or actual help. Currently, 30,000 kids in Canada’s foster care system are waiting for their new families, and the fast-food chain hopes that the new promotional effort will get more people think about adopting a kid. “Thousands of foster children all across North America are still waiting for a warm, loving adoptive family to call their own. You can help. Simply share this video and spread the word,” says the brand. As to the financial support, Wendy’s donates $1 from each Frosty purchase in stores to the Canadian charity.
With this call to share the video over social-media channels, this purely cute and genuinely sentimental effort seems to be just another example of online slacktivism, which has been recently criticized by UNISEF in another charity-focused effort.